Tuesday’s deadly school shooting in Texas has school districts across the area looking at their safety and security plans.
Texas authorities have confirmed 21 deaths at a school in Uvalde, including 19 students — all in the same fourth-grade class — and two teachers.
On KVOE’s Talk of Emporia on Wednesday, USD 253 Emporia Superintendent Allison Anderson-Harder said the district’s security plans cover a lot of angles, including regular drills for staff and students alike.
Plans also include facility layouts and secure entrances, items that have been at the forefront of construction projects since the Sandy Hook massacre.
Anderson-Harder says the local conversation developed well before Emporia voters approved the nearly $80 million Building for the Future bond package for improvements, renovations and new construction across the district.
Plans also include student releases to adults.
Anderson-Harder is grateful for the partnerships with local law enforcement, including the employment of three school resource officers — Todd Ayer, Larry Clay and Willie Turner — who were all police officers before going to the district.
