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Two parents with children attending New Union Elementary School shared their concerns regarding safety within the school during the regular Board of Education meeting Friday, April 10.

Stephanie Young said her daughter is a first-grade student at the school, and as a parent, safety within the schools is her “top concern.”

Young said that locks are an ongoing issue at the school, with some not closing properly since the new wing was opened to students around October 2021.

“I know personally, I have been trying to get basic doors to latch for our children, which I believe was finally rectified on Friday,” she said. “I went up there and I videotaped the men working on the three doors that was the biggest issue, one of which was my child’s classroom, which was opened by the wind, which is extremely upsetting.”

In an email following the meeting, Director of Schools Dr. Charles Lawson said doors are “routinely checked” by school resource officers throughout the district.

“In addition, teachers and other staff are encouraged to periodically check doors into their classrooms and report anything that does not work properly,” Lawson said.

Lawson said if the district receives a report of a door in a school not working properly, maintenance is sent to that location to address the issue.

“In this instance, district administration and maintenance responded to a concern about the doors not latching in a certain part of New Union School,” Lawson said. “All of the doors were closed and latched when inspected on Thursday, April 6. A routine inspection by the (School Resource Officer) later that day disclosed one of the doors that was closed but had not latched at that time. Building and district administration met at the school on Friday, April 7 to investigate. The contractor who installed the doors came to inspect them and make any necessary mechanical adjustments. It was discovered that two separate things had to occur for the door to fail to latch. Both issues have been addressed.”

Board member Jennifer Peacock Hodge said during the meeting that she was upset to hear about the issues regarding the locks at New Union Elementary, especially since she mentioned it during her first board meeting as a member last year.

“I find this very upsetting and very concerning because at my very first board meeting back when I didn’t know anything about how any of this worked I blurted out I have a problem with the locks at New Union…and that was in September,” she said. “…There is some kind of communication that is not working between Ms. (Jill) Potts’ school and everyone else.”

“I don’t know what we need to do but we have to get down to the bottom of this, this is not okay,” Peacock Hodge added.

Young said she also had concerns that the Nite Lock security devices purchased through a fundraiser for the school have not yet been installed. The devices are small door barricades designed to make it extremely difficult for a door to be opened from the outside.

“We keep hearing that it is due to incomplete construction and it not being signed off on, so my question as a parent is can we not contact the construction company in writing asking for permission to just install these locks to give our children an extra layer of security until they can finish the roof construction that hasn’t been done over a year and a half ago, because my child’s life is definitely worth way more than a contract,” Young said.

Lawson said in an email following the meeting that the Nite Locks were purchased before construction on the school’s addition was completed.

“Installation has not been completed in that part of the building for a variety of reasons including contractual issues and potential issues with regulations that we are currently investigating,” he said.

Jessica Licata also shared her concerns regarding district safety during the board meeting.

“I have two children that go to school at New Union Elementary,” Licata said. “One is in Kindergarten and one is in second grade. We are at the end of the school year and both of my children are unaware of what to do in the event of an active shooter on their campus.”

Young then said she was told by an unnamed longtime teacher at New Union Elementary that the school had its first drill for an intruder Monday, April 10.

Lawson said following the meeting that New Union conducted its first intruder training in conjunction with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department during a teacher in-service day September 2, 2022.

“The drill held on April 10 included students,” Lawson said.

“Very recently a school employee told me that teachers and staff have been aware of problems in the new wing since it opened,” Licata said. “As a parent of a child in that wing I was never told about any of these issues at any point in this school year.”

“New Union needs to be upfront with parents about issues in the school so that we as parents can make the best decision for our kids,” she added.

Licata said she also feels there should be additional safety measures in place that would slow down an active shooter.

“…Whether they are trying to breach the property or the school, we need way more ways to slow them down,” she said. “I know we are in the process of getting the fence done but it doesn’t just stop at a fence. I appreciate any and all educators because I truly could not do what they do, especially in today’s day and age. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart but I beg that we please do something to make our schools more secure.”

Board member Robert Ballard asked if there is an evacuation plan currently in place for students.

“We have an evacuation plan, we have active shooter drills, we have required things that we are supposed to be doing,” Lawson said during the meeting. “If you go to the office at New Union Ms. (Jill) Potts would have a folder because that is one of the things the fire marshal checks when they come in for inspection. It is to make sure those have been done and logged and that kind of thing.”

Lawson said following the meeting in addition to checking doors regularly, district safety measures also include, “drills for fire, tornado, or intruders are conducted, work is done with the SRO and other members of the sheriff’s department to train staff in different scenarios, inspections are conducted by members of local law enforcement and the fire marshal, updated information is disseminated to staff via different modes of communication.”

Board Chairman Gary Nester said during the meeting that a more in-depth discussion regarding school safety would be held during the board’s spring retreat meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 18.