Clayton County School District turns to parents to bolster campus security
ATLANTA, Ga. July 26 2022 The Clayton County School District is turning to parents to help bolster their security on campus.
On Tuesday, officials from the Clayton County School District will host training for parents, community members and business leaders to join the district’s ‘Village on Patrol.’
“We heard from the community loud and clear. They want to be a part of the solution,” said Shakira Brown Rice, Director of Community and Employee Engagement.
The school district hopes to have 10 villagers on patrol [VOPs] deployed at each school campus.
“Essentially, this is an extra set of eyes and ears in all buildings for the building principal,” said Brown Rice.
Brown Rice said these parents/community members/business leaders could provide extra monitoring on playgrounds, patrol hallways, or be used to help wand students.
In the 2021-2022 school year, district security officials said they confiscated 97 firearms on district campuses.
The training is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Jonesboro High School.
During a board meeting on Monday, the district’s chief of police recognized that these volunteers could help support their SROs while the district works to hire more security personnel.
“We’re having to wait on personnel to come in, but as we’re waiting on personnel, we can use volunteers and other individuals to help us secure our school grounds,” said Clayton County Schools Police Chief Reynard Walker.
During Monday’s board work session, one board member urged the board to reevaluate the 2022-2023 budget to allocate more funding for school security.
Clayton County Schools spent roughly $5.2 million to install body scanners in every high school.
Walker said all middle schools will have the body scanners by the end of September.
This summer, the district established a mandatory clear-bag policy.
The district allocated roughly $1.1 million to help make sure every student has access to a clear backpack.
The first day of school is August 3 for Clayton County Schools.
WGCL
