Millions approved to upgrade security at Jackson County NC schools
Jackson County NC August 1 2021
The pandemic slowed funding for the other half. But now, work is about to begin.
Four Jackson County schools have already converted to single point-of-entry schools, but four more remain, including Smoky Mountain High School.
“Those schools were not built to necessarily keep people out and in case of emergencies,” Superintendent Dr. Dana Ayers said.
The school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, and a series of bomb threats that followed in Jackson County put a laser focus on safety.
Ayers says the upgrades are needed at the high school, Fairview and Smokey Mountain Elementary, and the Blue Ridge School.
“This really is a wall project. So, as much as anything else, it’s enclosing our schools into courtyards that will be aesthetically pleasing,” says Assistant Superintendent Jake Buchanan.
But Buchanan says the schools will not feel like prisons.
“There will be planters and plants, and the flow will be one where you don’t feel trapped in your school, but you feel safe in your school…The whole trick is to funnel all outside traffic to one point in each of the schools,” he said.
A couple of years ago, safety measures were implemented at schools like Scott’s Creek Elementary, including buzz-in and monitoring systems.
Additional security measures were planned for the four remaining schools, but the pandemic slowed the bidding process. Construction costs went up. The job then had to go out for a second bid and increased the cost estimate up from the initial $4.5 million.
“So, the best bid that we got was for one company to do all four projects, and the bids came in around $7.4 million,” says Ayers.
Ayers says commissioners have approved the expenditure, putting a premium on school safety. School Resource Officers are already at all schools and counselors to help with mental health issues.
Ayers says the additional safety measures will come soon.
“The total time for all four projects will be about 18 months with no one school project being more than 12 months,” she says.
She says the contractor, Buchanan and Sons Inc., is ready to get started.
“Once this project is completed, we’ll have some of the safest schools in the nation between our single points of entry, our mental health support, and our partnership with law enforcement,” says Assistant Superintendent Buchanan.
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