SYLACAUGA, Ala. – Gun incidents surrounding schools are becoming more frequent, especially in they year 2018.
These incidents have even hit close to home. On Thursday morning at Talladega High School, a student was observed exhibiting suspicious behavior. His backpack was searched and a gun was discovered. The police were called and the student was taken into custody according to a statement released on Facebook by Talladega City Schools Superintendent Dr. Terry L. Roller.
SylacaugaNews.com spoke with Sylacauga City Schools Superintendent Dr. Todd Freeman about the schools safety plans regarding an active shooter situation. Without going into specifics, obviously to protect the integrity and purpose of the safety plan, Freeman explained what measures SCS take, as well as other school systems, regarding student safety.
Freeman pointed out schools regularly practices lock-down drills and other drills, sends staff to state training sessions in order to stay updated on new safety regulations and instructions administered by the state, and are staffed with system-wide school resource officers from the Sylacauga Police Department.
Freeman described the school system’s plan as a comprehensive safety plan, taking into account all dangerous situations including intruder, weather, emergency evacuation and beyond.
When asked about the possibility of dealing with a situation like the one in Florida, Freeman replied, “There are some trains of thought that say we’ve gotten desensitized to events like this, but I can tell you that you never get desensitized to this. My heart has been aching since yesterday, because that could have easily been a school in Alabama or Talladega County. Everyone is working hard to create a safe place. Unfortunately, we are in a world where we are not immune to catastrophes like this, and we’re fighting tooth and nail to make sure that doesn’t happen locally. As an educator and parent, I can’t imagine the thought of dealing with something like this.”
