Broward County Group Releases 100 School Security Suggestions
After the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, earlier this year, the Broward League of Cities formed a task force to assess school and community safety measures. This week, it released a 93-page report with 100 suggestions, including increasing school hardening, reformed discipline policies and access to mental health resources.
According to the Miami Herald, Sunrise Mayor Michael Ryan, who served as a co-chair of the task force, said the group worked to release the initial report in time for budget season, so changes could be made before the next school year.
School hardening suggestions include expediting school construction projects to include a single point of entry to a school, surveillance camera upgrades, additional fencing, metal detectors and classroom doors that lock automatically. The report recommends that all public areas of schools, such as hallways, external doors, outdoor playgrounds or common areas, parking lots and campus entrances and exits, should have camera coverage (item 27 on the list), and no public area should be left unmonitored by cameras (item 28).
Ryan said that the school district is in need of more psychologists, social workers and mental health counselors, as well as increased marketing for mental health resources.
The report also touches on establishing a “permanent, stable, dedicated” funding resource for school resource officers.
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