Local View: Orange schools care about students’ safety.
One thing you can count on: Keeping students and staff safe is something Orange County Public Schools takes seriously. It is one of the district’s five strategic plan goals — to ensure a safe learning and working environment.
In 2014, the School Board responded to the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy by focusing on strengthening the security on our campuses. The School Board hired an independent consulting firm to conduct a districtwide safety assessment of every OCPS facility. As a result, numerous changes have been made, and continue to be made, to “harden” our schools and improve overall emergency preparedness.
Since the assessment, we have designed a single point of entry in the plans for every new school and renovated existing campuses to have the same. We have added video intercom entry boxes at front doors, more cameras for campus surveillance and fencing around the perimeters. This is not an exhaustive list of security measures, but for security purposes the district cannot share everything that has been implemented.
The experts also recommended we form our own police department. In August 2015, we established the District Police, which is a certified law-enforcement agency that focuses primarily on prevention and early intervention.
The District Police work collaboratively with nine municipalities that provide school resource officers who are assigned to every one of our school campuses. District Police direct the drills and training that every school conducts during the year. These officers conduct random, unannounced weapon screenings at schools; and they monitor social media and respond to perceived threats in coordination with local law-enforcement partner agencies.
Lawmakers in Tallahassee have passed a measure, which Gov. Rick Scott signed Friday, to allow some school personnel to carry firearms, with training. This position is not supported by the Orange County School Board, as was stated publicly Feb. 27 at its School Board meeting. Our teachers are in the classroom to educate and guide students to high academic achievement. I do not believe — nor do the teachers I talk to say — they want that extra professional and personal responsibility added to their already-full plate. We need to leave gun carrying to our trained law-enforcement officers.
I ask for your assistance to help keep our students and staff as safe as possible. If you “see something, say something.” Please call the “SpeakOut Hotline” at 800-423-TIPS (8477) to report anonymously any suspicious activity you think law enforcement needs to investigate regarding our schools.
Thank you for your partnership in helping to protect our most precious community assets — our children.