LAKE CITY, S.C. (WBTW) – Florence School District Three Board Members discussed student and faculty safety last night.
News13 got an inside look at the schools of concern and how district administrators plans to keep children safe by securing the schools entrances.
Many schools in Florence District Three are decades old. Of the nine schools in Lake City, four have entrances that lead directly to hallways.
Last year, parents at Scranton Elementary School raised money to build a door between the entrance and the hallway.
Principal Allana Prosser said the door helps keep students safe.
Prosser said, “Our kindergarten hallway is immediately to the left. When they come to Kindergarten they are used to trusting any adult.” Prosser adds, “We did not like our Kindergarten being that open with the front door.”
The new doors are always locked and visitors get buzzed in by the receptionist.
“These doors prevent anybody going into the building without our letting them in the building,” said Prosser.
Former Lake City High School Principal, Kasey Feagin said the district has to balance security with safety. Feagin is now the Senior Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for the school district.
“Of course you want to limit access but in cases of emergency, like fire or times that you have to evacuate the building you want to make sure that you can do that as well,” explained Feagin.
Until the district has the money to improve the entrances at four schools it will rely on security cameras, visitor check-ins, and locked classroom doors.
Feagin said, “We have a safety plan and part of that plan is that we do three lock down drills per school per semester. So, students are familiar with what to do in case on an emergency.”
The District Maintenance Director, Jay Alexander plans to revise the long term development plans in the upcoming weeks. Alexander estimates the cost to improve the security at school entrances in the district ranges from 200 to 250 thousand dollars.
