On Tuesday, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares met with law enforcement and school officials in Fauquier County, Va. for a roundtable discussion on school safety.
“I've been getting around the state talking about school safety issues,” Miyares told 7News. “And what I have done is get around with both members and local law enforcement or sheriff's, school board members, and talk about what they're doing, talk about what we're seeing at the state level. And what we can do to make sure that when you're a parent, a mom or dad, you drop your child off for school, your number one goal is their safety. And their second goal is that they have a great education."
“When we were approached about having this meeting, I was thrilled,” said Donna Grove, the Fauquier County School Board Chair.
Fauquier County’s School Board Chair said every school is fully staffed with School Resource Officers (SROs).
“I'm a fan of SROs in as many schools as we can get them,” Miyares told 7News. “The governor put in the budget several hundred additional SROs for Virginia, and we've put in more resources than we ever have. I think that's a critical component because at the end of the day, we want to make sure that our kids are safe in our schools."
There have been recent scathing reports on law enforcement’s response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. 7News asked Miyares if Virginia law enforcement agencies are learning from the reported errors in Uvalde.
“I have re-emphasized and talked to our leaders of the state police and so many local law enforcement, 'what is your current training?'” Miyares told 7News Reporter Nick Minock. “They have consistently done the training that if God forbid, there is an active shooter situation, they don't stop. They rush in. There is no stopping and determining who's in command, whichever officers on the scene, whether it's state police, local sheriff or local police, they immediately rush and engage the shooter. They don't wait and some of the really hard lessons we learned tragically from Columbine were not shown and displayed in Texas. That's not the case in Virginia."
The superintendent said the school district’s staff, and some students, are completing mental health training to help students who need mental health support. Those who have completed the training wear purple lanyards so students know who they can talk to.
“The mental health piece in some respects is as important as the physical safety,” said David Jeck, the Fauquier County Public Schools Superintendent. “The last years have been really difficult on them. I think we probably underestimated how impactful the periods of isolation have been on these kids.”