Staff group OKs security scheme for NLR schools

A group representing non-licensed staff in the North Little Rock School District voted to approve a plan to update the district’s security apparatus Monday.

The plan will go to the North Little Rock School Board for a vote Thursday for final approval.

Superintendent Gregory Pilewski has proposed a plan to reorganize the district security through the addition of armed guards, new managers and more training for security staff.

Pilewski’s plan will also reorganize a number of security positions in the district, meaning many working security positions in the school district will have to apply to keep their jobs after their contracts end in June 2023.

The plan calls for 11 armed and 27 unarmed security officers to be posted at schools around the district. The security guards will undergo state certification, Pilewski said.

The Classified Personnel Policy Committee, which represents non-licensed staff members, voted unanimously to back Pilewski’s plan.

“The report was very thorough in how they explained it to us,” said Adrienne Durham, co-chair of the district’s Classified Personnel Policy Committee. “And I think it was much needed for this district.”

Hayward Finks, former assistant chief with the Little Rock Police Department, has led the effort to beef up security in the district saying staff need to be better trained to handle crises and take better advantage of already in place school technology.

“Right now, as I conducted the assessment, there are a lot of staff and security personnel that are not absolutely certain what needs to happen in a crisis situation,” Finks told the board of education during a meeting last week.

The plan comes as schools around the country reconsider their security in the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. There have also been incidents near the district.

In October, a teen was shot across the street from North Little Rock High School while attempting to buy a gun, sending the school into a lockdown.