RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) – It has been two days since the Texas shooting massacre, and now school district leaders and law enforcement in the Midlands are putting more aggressive plans in place to keep schools safe.
Superintendent for Richland School District Two Dr. Baron Davis tells WACH FOX News he is disgusted by what happened in Texas. He has sent out a letter out to parents, alerting them about an increased police presence at all schools in the district.
Davis isn’t the only one who worries about what could happen here at home.
In the last month, Richland Two reported three incidents where students were arrested and charged with bringing guns to schools.
Dr. Davis shed light on security changes in Richland Two with parents after the tragedy in Texas.
Some changes include putting a student resource officer at every school, adding security cameras, and even installing bullet resistant glass.
“We really need to send the message out saying that this is something that is something that is a top priority for us,” said Davis.
Those preventative measures are seen in the Lexington Two School District, the Kershaw County School District, as well as Orangeburg County schools.
“We police as a team, and we have to police as a team,” said Cayce police chief Chris Cowan. “Having the school resource officers, having the patrol officers in and out of the schools, training constantly in how we respond to emergencies.”
“We sent out a message to all our principals and SROs to maintain vigilance,” said Doug Bowling, who serves as the safety & security coordinator for the Kershaw County School District. “We have a raptor emergency response program that communicates all of our drills and incidents. Nobody comes into our schools without being checked by their ID.”
Some parents say even more can be done to deal with the worst-case scenario.
“I’m personally in favor of allowing teachers, and staff members to be armed,” said parent Gus Philpot. “Things are so dangerous right now.”
School district leaders say their plans will continue to change, and they expect additional layers of security heading into next school year.