Amidst rising concerns about safety at large school events, Wake County Public School System’s Safety and Security Committee convened this week to chart the course on security, unveiling updates and pondering future strategies to enhance student protection. In the words of Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor, the district is vigilant in responding to societal changes, stating, “We want to make sure that any change in society, whether they are behavioral, or technical, that we understand how that impacts the safety of a school,” CBS17 reported
Recent incidents, like shots fired in a Southeast Raleigh High School football jamboree parking lot, prompted discussions on event-specific security enhancements and how staff, together with law enforcement, labor to fashion plans that could accommodate changes for future events, drawing plans from documents able to be adjusted over time, Dr. Taylor and Kendrick Scott, WCPSS Senior Director of Security, specified the process and collaboration involved, yet the specifics of the security technologies, including weapons detection systems, remained within the purview of a closed session, with Taylor conceding their effectiveness, though not without necessitating substantial shifts in the community and student routines, WRAL shared.
The school system isn’t without its technological defenses already; current measures like the Rave panic button app and the Verkada Visitor Management System have been credited with quick emergency responses and preventing unlawful school visitors, respectively, as nearly 3,500 staff members have leveraged the alert system successfully in times of urgency, and sex offenders were thwarted from breaching school grounds during the last academic year, signaling a proactive stance in student safety, according to CBS17…