Crockett County Schools Stepping up Safety Procedures
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CROCKETT COUNTY, Tenn- West Tennessee schools react to the school massacre in Connecticut by revisiting their emergency plans already in place. School leaders are going the extra mile to find ways of beefing up their security procedures within the school system by conducting school walk-throughs. In the wake of the deadly school shooting in Connecticut, Phillip Pratt who is the assistant director of the Crockett County School System is checking hallways, doors and emergency evacuation plans within every school in Crockett County. Pratt said he just wants to make sure the students are safe. “They are innocent if you walk through look at them they live moment- to-moment, day-to-day and don’t think about dangers,” said Pratt. “It’s sad that they got to be exposed to us tying to protect them. I hate that but it’s one of the necessary evils we have to address.” Every teacher is given a unique evacuation plan. Officials said their bus drivers are also given a secret route to drive children to a safe zone in case of an emergency. During each walk-through Pratt said he is looking for ways to improve their emergency plans. One improvement he would like to see is to the school entrances. Even though the doors are on a lock system, most of the main entrances are made with glass. “As happened in Connecticut they shot the glass window and went in,” said Pratt. “It’s something that we’ll look into.” Officials said right now the school board is working with the county sheriff’s department to improve their safe zones and emergency responses. Each school’s plan is designed specifically to that school’s need.
