School systems, local law enforcement discuss school safety with representatives

On March 12, school leaders from both Jefferson County and Shelby County gathered together to discuss a topic that is weighing heavily on everyone’s minds: school safety. Craig Pouncey, superintendent of Jefferson County Schools, and Rep. Allen Farley (R, D-15) called the meeting as a way to review proposed school safety legislation and for legislators to hear what local schools need.

State representatives Merika Coleman, Jabo Waggoner, David Faulkner and Nathaniel Ledbetter were present. Superintendents representing Trussville, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover, Tarrant City, Leeds, Pelham and Dekalb County attended and spoke at the meeting, regarding current problems they may be facing as well as a list of school safety ideas and bills that have been presented.

Proposed school safety bill summaries

Some of the bills listed were:

• House Bill 449, which would authorize the formation of trained volunteer school emergency security forces at public K-12 schools in the state consisting of current and retired school employees and local citizens.
• House Bill 435, which would allow teachers, principals, vice principals and superintendents to carry a pistol while on school property with certain conditions.
• House Bill 236, which would authorize local boards of education to employ a person who is retired and in good standing from law enforcement with at least 25 years experience as a school resource officer.
• House Bill 442, which would state that, except for law enforcement, no person will be permitted to carry a firearm on public school grounds.
• Senate Bill 323, which would amend the Rolling Reserve Act to allow funds in the Advancement and Technology Fund to be used to support “school security measures.”
• House Bill 115, which would make murder on a school campus a capital offense.
• House Bill 434, which would prohibit assault weapons to be sold or transferred to anyone under the age of 21 and prohibits anyone under 21 from owning an assault weapon.
• House Bill 447, which would reauthorize the Alabama Task Force on School Safety and Security and authorizes the task force to study annually the current education and safety laws, rules and policies of Alabama in order to assist the legislature in making effective changes to protect and benefit the students and citizens of Alabama.
• House Bill 452, which would allow a juvenile probation officer to share information and records relating to a student with the student’s superintendent and/or principal if the disclosure of the information would promote safety or enhance ability of the school.
• Senate Bill 151, which would expand the definition of the existing crime of “making a terrorist threat” to include any threat of violence against any “church, synagogue, mosque or religious real property or any public or private school.” The definition would include “a threat of violence” by “a bomb, explosive, weapon of mass destruction, firearm or other deadly weapon.”
• A proposal that would permit trained service dogs to be allowed, provided or authorized for any school system wishing to employ their use at school facilities.

Input from superintendents

All superintendents took time to address what current security measures are in place at their schools, including student resource officers (SROs), partnerships with local organizations and departments, security cameras and employee training. 

Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy spoke about their de-escalation training that every member of the school system is trained in, as well as a new lockdown system they have integrated into their facilities. Hoover City Schools also hosted two of their own school safety meetings last week for stakeholders, students, parents and faculty.

Homewood’s Bill Cleveland said too that they have trained in implementing the ALICE protocol, which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. Cleveland said in light of the shooting at Parkland that resulted in 17 dead, Homewood City Schools added three SROs and is upgrading their security cameras so the police department will have access to it if needed. 

Todd Freeman, Vestavia Hills’ new superintendent who started on March 12, echoed some of the practices that Hoover and Homewood do at their schools. He advocated for trained personnel to be armed at schools, such as SROs or police officers, not necessarily teachers. He also asked that legislators look for funding that could be put towards “hardening targets,” such as reinforcing doors and windows against shooters, or adding SROs to schools. “Anything like hardening targets or SROs, that’s helping everybody,” he said. 

One common theme heard throughout the meeting was the need to increase mental health resources.

“The decrease in mental health services has created a problem in people not getting the help they need … And there’s not a bill in here to help us with mental health,” said Trussville Superintendent Pattie Neill of the summary of school safety ideas. “I’m for prevention and for proactive strategies.”

Other superintendents expressed similar concerns surrounding the lack of resources that are put towards employing school counselors and mental health professionals that are trained to work with students who may come from challenging backgrounds or be dealing with difficult situations. By being able to hire a counselor full-time, it would allow students to have consistency and stability when dealing with problems, said Pelham Superintendent Scott Coefield.

Thoughts from local law enforcement

Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego and Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale also had the opportunity to address the legislators. 

Samaniego said much of Shelby County’s success in safety is due to the sheriff’s office and police departments’ partnerships with municipalities, but said for the next fiscal year, they’re hoping to add more SROs to the budget. He said there are concerns for mental health funding in Shelby County, too.

Hale said money is “absolutely the key” to increasing the number of SROs in schools and ensuring greater mental health resources and noted that members of law enforcement are only “invited guests” in schools. He explained that officers may not necessarily be in a school without having their presence requested in the first place and said much of what schools do should be left up to the superintendents. That included whether or not to have approved persons who are armed.

“It’s hard for me to swallow when you say armed teachers. It really is,” Hale said, addressing legislators. “I would ask you to always consider leaving it in the superintendent’s responsibility.”

“One size is not going to fit all,” Pouncey agreed.