Editor’s Note: The deadly Valentine’s Day school shooting in Florida again raises the question, “How can we keep our children safe?” Now Habersham reached out to school superintendent Matthew Cooper to find out what’s being done to protect students on Habersham County’s public school campuses. This is his response:
“Despite the terrible tragedy that has occurred in Florida, I still believe that our schools here in Habersham County are among the safest places anywhere for students to be. I not only believe this as a superintendent, but I also believe this as a parent who has two students in our school system. As a father, I want our school system to continually look for ways to improve safety in all our schools. I have two children who attend Habersham County schools each day. I cannot always be there to protect them and so I count on our system staff to look after my own children just like every other parent in our county. I often tell our leaders to think like a parent when it comes to safety. The best defense is a position of great strength.
Here is a summary of some of the security measures we have in place in our schools. While this list is not comprehensive, it does highlight how great a priority we place on student safety in our school system:
- When I came to Habersham County in 2012, the Habersham Central High School campus was open, meaning that anyone could enter multiple entrances at the school during the day. With the use of ESPLOST funds we were able to install a top of the line access control system at the high school 2013. This control system ensures that every single door at the high school is now locked during the day.
- We have also installed a guard shack at the main parking lot entrance at Habersham Central. Only one gate is open during the day at the high school. A security guard screens everyone who enters and leaves the campus. The guard has access to both a phone and two-way radio and is able to communicate anything suspicious to school administrators and resource officers.
- We have secure entrances at all schools. This means that no one gets in without being buzzed in by office personnel.
- Security camera systems are now in place at all schools
- We have a system safety team that meets every month with the purpose of finding ways to make our school system safer. This team is made up of key system leaders and school administrators from all schools.
- An Active Shooter Drill with county first responders and school staff was held at HCHS in 2017
- A 2-day EMS Drill and Training was held at HCHS in Jan. 2018
- Our school system safety team has received training from the FBI on active-shooter prevention and response. Some of our administrators are now employing specific preventative measures that were shared by the FBI. These measures will remain confidential to ensure the highest level of effectiveness.
- All Schools have Safety Plans that are updated annually and that specifically address Active Shooters.
- Schools conduct a minimum of 2 lockdown drills each year.
- Our School system has a very strong relationship with Habersham County Sheriff’s Office. Our school board and the county worked together to add an additional resource officer this year. We now have a total of 5 School Resource Officers. Each resource officer is assigned to specific schools.
- Our School System also works very closely with GEMA. GEMA often provides training to our system safety team in addition to reviewing our school safety plans.
- As of this year, every school has “Stop the Bleed” kits, containing tourniquets and wound-packing materials.
- School administrators always take reports of suspicious activity seriously and involve law enforcement officials during investigations.
When it comes to safety, we use the same motto as our nation’s Department of Homeland Security which is “See Something, Say Something”. The number one thing we have working for us here in Habersham County is an open line of communication between our students and school officials and between our schools and local law enforcement agencies. Our teachers, school administrators, and resource officers work hard to build strong relationships with students. It is important that students feel comfortable reporting suspicious things to our school staff and administrators. If a student, parent, or staff member sees something suspicious they should report it immediately to school officials and/or law enforcement.
The safety of our students is our number one priority in the Habersham County School System. This is not just talk. We put this priority into action every single day.
In the Habersham County School System, we are blessed with strong administrators and teachers who are willing to do whatever it takes to protect our boys and girls. We have extensive safety measures in place at all schools and we continually look for ways to improve these measures. Our school board is committed to safety and has been willing to allocate resources and finances in the area of student safety. We also have a Sheriff in Habersham County who leads with strength and courage. We have great resource officers serving in our schools whose primary purpose is to protect our students. Our parents should feel assured that when it comes to safety we treat our students like they are our own children.”
