Adults planning to visit local schools will have a new experience when classes resume Wednesday.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. officials are not tipping their hand just yet on full details, but school safety and security changes will be shared with school district students and their families by the end of this week.
A video created by JAB Media Group, based in Columbus, will highlight changes students, parents and visitors can expect to see, BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts said.
JAB Media Group is producing the video at no charge to help support the school system, owner Josh Burnett said.
Information about safety and security changes will also be posted on the district’s website, social media pages and will be made available to the media, Roberts said.
BCSC school board members were briefed about of the upcoming changes during a closed-door meeting Tuesday.
“As we implement any changes to start the school year, we do so with an understanding that we adapt and evolve as situations dictate,” Roberts said.
However, the immediate changes will not include use of hand-held metal detectors, which were offered to school districts at no cost by the state. Under the program, one hand-held metal detector has been made available for every 250 students in public, charter and accredited private schools.
BCSC had applied for the metal detectors and anticipates receiving more than 40 of them based on the district’s enrollment.
The devices will not be part of the new security changes being rolled out since use of metal detectors is considered a policy change, which would require approval by the school board, Roberts said.
When the detectors are used, it will not be on a daily basis, he said.
Subsequent steps
The district has had talks with Columbus Police Chief Jon Rohde and Sheriff Matt Myers about increasing the total number of school resource officers, Roberts said.
Working with the Columbus Police Department, two city officers have been based in Columbus high schools and middle schools since the fall of 2013. While Roberts said he would like to see an increase in the number of school resource officers, there are no immediate plans to push for one officer to be assigned to each school, as other school districts have considered.
Roberts said school safety and security has remained a priority for BCSC, especially since the Feb. 14 school shootings in Parkland, Florida, where 14 students and three staff members were killed by a lone gunman.
Steps the Columbus-based district has taken since then include performing a March internal audit of its buildings that involved checking doors to ensure they were secure.
The district also hired Facility Engineering Associates, based in Washington, D.C., to assess school security at Schmitt Elementary School and Columbus North High School during a separate audit May 25, Roberts said.
Consulting firm CSO Architects, which works with the Columbus-based school district, arranged for the safety and security audit at a limited number of buildings free of charge to BCSC.
Roberts said the safety of individuals in all of its school buildings remain a top priority.
“We’re improving safety and security while maintaining that positive learning culture,” he said.
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Information about school security changes will be posted on the district’s social media pages and website by the end of the week. A video is being created that will highlight some of the changes people can expect to see.
The district website is bcsc.k12.in.us
Its Facebook page is facebook.com/bcscindiana
Follow the school district on Twitter @bcscindiana
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