JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Private and public schools in the area have put state funding to use, increasing safety features after a shooting that rocked the state.
A year ago today, an active shooter entered the private Nashville school, Covenant School, and resulted in the death of six people, including three students and three adults.
Since the shooting, the state has funded private and public schools to improve safety.
Visitor sign-in, police officers added to Ashley Academy security
Students at Ashley Academy remember the school day of the Covenant School shooting.
“When it happened, I was kind of scared,” said sixth-grader Madeline Eisenback. “At other schools, I might not feel as safe, but even with the things that have happened, I still felt safe here.”
“We know that there’s a higher risk now, and that’s why we’ve had to upgrade our security a little bit,” said fifth-grader Amelia Rafai.
They’re grateful for the nearly $20,000 funding that has allowed their school to gain more safety features.
“We do not receive a lot of state funds simply because we are a private school,” said Head of School at Ashley Academy, Ramona Harr. “So, we were thrilled for this assistance because there were some projects that we wanted to complete, but money was always kind of the issue between them.”
These safety features include a visitor management system where visitors sign in by scanning their IDs. The system then runs a quick background check on the person, checking listings like the FBI Most-Wanted and registered sex offenders.
Plus, the school can now pay off-duty Johnson City police officers to provide security.
“This year, there’s a lot more police officers,” said second-grader Lachlan Hallenbeck-Huber. “It’s just better.”
“The police officers are very nice,” said Eisenback. “There’s just a lot of things that they take into account that make us feel even safer than anywhere else.”
Harr said keypads have also been added to exterior doors, which prevent them from being propped open. The school also has security cameras and an alarm system.
“We need to make sure that parents of all of our students feel confident that we’re alert and aware of the challenges and what we would do to keep their children safe,” said Harr.
Guard station and fencing in works at Providence Academy
Providence Academy is using its state funds for a guard station. The school received about $90,000 and fundraised the remaining over $100,000 to pay for the station.
The school contracts an independent security group, Harrell Group, to provide campus security.
Providence Academy’s Head of School, Ben Holland, said Harrell Group helped develop the guard station to add an extra layer of security.
The station will be at the front of the school and will have technology that scans drivers’ license plates and runs their information.
“If it’s someone who may be registered on a list and could be a potential threat to the school, we’ll be able to identify them while they’re all the way down the road, not once they’ve reached our reception area,” said Holland.
Holland said one full-time security guard will be at the guard station, with another full-time guard on campus.
Construction starts soon on the guard station.
Other safety features at the school include ballistic film on the glass and security cameras that local police can access.
Holland said the school is working on adding a 10-foot fence that spans the property’s perimeter.
“We want students to have safety as the last thing they have to think about when they are here at Providence Academy,” said Holland. “We want to think about that for them.”
Foyer improvements, emergency buttons at Johnson City Schools
Johnson City Schools has received about $300,000 to go toward safety improvements. Supervisor of Safety and Mental Health, Dr. Greg Wallace, said school leaders must focus on state funding, foyer improvements, and emergency buttons for staff members.
A foyer committee was formed about a year ago and is working on designs.
“We want to make sure that all our schools’ systems have a two-buzzer system so that you have to be buzzed initially into the building and then cleared,” said Wallace.
Wallace said emergency buttons will allow staff members to call for help anywhere and to receive immediate assistance.
“My job, from my perspective, is to allow teachers, students and families to do their job,” said Wallace. “So, if you’re constantly worrying about what’s the next concern that might happen, it’s hard to learn. It’s hard to teach. It’s hard to feel safe about sending your kids to school.”
School leaders hope staff members will start the next school year with emergency buttons.
