Murray County Schools superintendent outlines recent, upcoming school safety measures

Jan. 24—CHATSWORTH — During the monthly meeting of the Murray County Board of Education on Monday, time was set aside for public participation and a parent with children in Murray County Schools outlined concerns about school safety and drug enforcement policies.

"I'm here to share with you some concerns I have about the school (she has a child who attends Gladden Middle) and some proposed solutions for those (concerns)," said Reva Biddy. "My most important concern is (that) the students are bringing drugs and alcohol into the schools and that they're able to get them in there."

Biddy said while she knows that school system personnel have taken measures to help combat the presence of nicotine vapes and other paraphernalia inside schools in Chatsworth and Eton, she does not believe "that enough is being done to prevent it from happening."

"Nothing is more important than the safety of children, and as parents we do what we can at home to keep them safe and we expect as much from their schools," she said. "I believe prevention is key."

Superintendent Steve Loughridge detailed the measures the school system has taken in recent years to combat drugs after the meeting.

"We're aware of some of the issues, but I think from a safety standpoint, we do everything that we possibly can to make all of our schools safe," Loughridge said. "We've spent a lot of money on safety and we do countless drug awareness (programs) with both students and parents, so we have a lot of interaction in regards to prevention."

Part of new awareness programs includes showing the "Dead On Arrival" documentary that highlights the dangers of fentanyl and its deadly effects to students in grades 6-12. The documentary was part of a systemwide substance abuse prevention campaign during Red Ribbon Week late last year.

"We've had speakers come and we've put on these programs," Loughridge said. "From a prevention standpoint, throughout the whole school system we have various groups that check in and see how (students) are doing with their grades and attendance."

These small group advisement sessions are held throughout the system's middle and high schools in order to "see what's going on not just here at school, but at home and so forth," Loughridge said.

Biddy referenced safety measures that have been put in place at Pleasant Valley Innovative School, an alternative school in Eton.

"I think that the preventative measures that Pleasant Valley ... takes is a good place to start," she said.

She mentioned the no backpack or handbag policy that the smaller school, which has about 60 students, adheres to.

"They have detection devices that the kids walk through; they have surveillance cameras," she said. "In addition to those, I think that placing detection devices on school buses would be really helpful, and at the entrances where car-riders are dropped off. This would ensure that every kid was being safe and drug-free (or) weapon-free before they entered the school and it will cut down on some of the overwhelmingness of trying to do it just at the school. So, on the buses I think that will help."

Loughridge said that request would not be "feasible."

"It's just not physically possible," he said. "You couldn't have school started until 9:30 or 10 (a.m.) every day. It's just not physically feasible."

Loughridge said the school system has made major steps in ensuring safety within schools in other ways, including measures that will be in place in the coming year.

"We've spent well in excess of over half a million dollars on school safety just this year alone," Loughridge said. "We're looking at probably about $700,000 if you count Centegix which is about to go online."

Centegix, a crisis alert system and safety platform, provides school safety tools including its Safety Blueprint digital mapping system and a CrisisAlert wearable panic button that faculty can use to discreetly alert responders with a simple click in emergency situations.

"We hope to have that online by winter break (late February)," Loughridge said. "We are also in the process of putting in new, next generation cameras (across Murray County schools)."

Loughridge said there are counselors from both inside and outside the school system who are available to students.

"We have counselors at every building, and we have a social worker assigned to every building," he said. "We have Georgia HOPE (a Dalton-based provider of mental health services) counselors and Highland Rivers (Behavioral Health) counselors that are available outside of our own counselors to talk about various issues. Not to mention our SROs (school resource officers) in every building to help promote school safety."

Loughridge said another avenue in exploring safety within Murray County schools includes student and school safety surveys.

"Which ask questions such as 'Do you feel safe at school?' and 'What other needs do you have?'" said Loughridge. "And they can reply anonymously. We have all of these various ways we try to check in on our students. We're doing our part; we're doing everything that we can possibly do within the school system to address school safety."

That includes another recent measure in the form of vape detectors that have been placed inside "all of the restrooms already," said Loughridge.

"They're in the ceilings and they'll go off if they detect smoke from the vape and it will notify the principal," he said.