Jul. 27—ROCKINGHAM — When the schools of Richmond County open their doors next month, there will be a renewed priority on school safety.

"They're so vital," said associate superintendent of human resources Dr. Julian Carter about law enforcement. "They give so much and they are there to give so much."

Currently, each school in RCS is working on a School Risk Management Plan, which will organize and coordinate information for school staff, first responders and law enforcement. COVID-19 delayed the rollout of the plan. In June, EdNC reported that nearly 1/3 of NC schools had not submitted a SRMP.

Carter said that a SRMP eliminates any hesitation on who will take charge — a situation that was on unfortunately on full-display in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting that claimed over 20 lives.

"It goes over every step that has to be made," Carter said about the SRMP.

This past school year, two guns were found in the parking lot of school premises. There was one reported bomb threat, and multiple instances of threats made on social media, according to Carter.

Each middle and high school uses metal detectors prior to the school day. At the middle schools, they were not utilized every day year. They will be this year, according to Carter.

"It takes a lot of time," Carter said, alluding to the 1,300 students at RSHS each day who have to go through eight metal detectors, with over 600 Rockingham Middle students having to start their day in the same manner.

Incident at Ashley Chapel

In April, David Travis, a teacher at Ashley Chapel Education Center for the previous 12 years, was assaulted by a student.

Ashley Chapel is an alternative school. All school districts in North Carolina are mandated to have an alternative school, which serves students in a more specialized style. Ashley Chapel is the combination of two previous alternative schools that combined about 12 years ago. Around that time, there were 150 students in Ashley Chapel. Now, it's enrollment is about 75 students, although it hovered closer to 100 this past year. At Ashley Chapel, teacher-student ratios are around 1:10, often times closer to 1:5.

Travis said that fights and "blatant bullying" take place at the school every day. While fights between students are common, he said that any exchange between students and staff is rare.

The morning of Mr. Travis's second block class, a juvenile was disrupting the classroom. According to Travis, he asked the student quiet down, and the student began to talk back.

Travis walked to another room and got a support staff member to talk to the student. The student refused to leave the classroom.

Another employee came to talk to the student, and they became agitated.

"[The student] moves along the side of the class to get me," Travis said. "[The student] was coming very fast."

According to Travis, the student said, "This is street, I'm going to kill you n*****r," and proceeded to throw a chair at Travis.

A teacher's assistant was able to hold back the student, who was escorted out of the classroom.

RCS could not comment on the specifics of this incident, citing confidentiality.

After the incident, Travis was asked to write a statement of the incident and gave it to school administration. Travis believes there was insufficient communication during the incident and that students at Ashley Chapel need more oversight.

"I was extremely traumatized by the event," Travis, who is handicapped and has limited use of his left hand, said. "I've had hands put on me before. This was not that."

Travis sought counseling after the incident. Travis said that students told him after the incident that he "was in serious danger."

According to Travis, the student was subsequently removed from the school. At a trial in May, Travis said the juvenile was charged with communicating threats, simple assault and assault on a state employee.

Travis said that he wants his story shared because he has concerns about safety in the school system, especially after the school shooting in Uvalde.

Dr. Carter shared that there were five reported assaults at Ashley Chapel during the 2021-22 school year.

The Associated Press reported that education officials across the country are saying that violence is erupting more often and more fiercely in classrooms.

Carter said that with middle and high schoolers missing essentially over a year of in-person learning due to the pandemic, the effects have been severe.

"It becomes different when you put everybody back together," Carter said. "Those first couple months back were tough."

Upcoming year

At the June meeting of the Richmond County Board of Education, associate superintendent of human resources Dr. Julian Carter detailed district-wide safety measures for the 2021-22 school year and how those will be sustained into the future.

RCS received two grants, totaling $116,00, from the Center for Safer Schools initiative from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Two SRO's were hired to augment the school police using that grant money. There are now seven, with one hire arriving soon, SRO's in RCS. Carter also said that this year at Ashley Chapel, there will be an additional TA.

The remaining $50,000 was divided in purchasing metal detectors and radios.

RCS allocated $30,000 for 120 radios to improve communication at all schools.

For the upcoming school year, Carter shared that all Ashley Chapel staff will be trained in a Crisis Prevention Institute training, which specializes in the safe management of disruptive and assaultive behavior.

A few weeks ago, there was an in-the-building law enforcement training session at Ashley Chapel.

"It's important to get police officers into our buildings," Carter said. "Nothing is a better substitute [for officers] than going in and actually seeing it."

Last Wednesday, the Anson County Sheriff's Office, along with the Polkton, Wadesboro, Marshville and Monroe Police Departments, participated in an active shooter and rapid response training session at Peachland-Polkton Elementary School.

This summer, there was also a meeting between law enforcement, school officials and the Dobbins Heights community that revolved around school safety.

An emphasis this upcoming year has been placed on door security, and adding key pads to replace punch codes. For parents who have lingering concerns, Carter said they are always welcome to reach out to the school to ask questions and be an "extra set of eyes."

"We are doing the best we can to make the schools safe," Carter said. "We want our Richmond County kids in our Richmond County Schools ... to feel comfortable and confident that we are doing the best we can."