Gwinnett, the state’s largest school district, will review the safety plans at all 132 of its schools in the aftermath of the massacre in Newtown, Conn., officials announced Thursday.
Twenty students and six adults were killed last month at a Newtown elementary school, sparking calls for everything from a ban on automatic weapons to armed security guards in schools.
J. Alvin Wilbanks, Gwinnett’s school superintendent, also is planning to convene a school safety task force to look at potential improvements. But he told the school board Thursday not to expect any quick recommendations.
“We’re not going to come up with specific recommendations until the rhetoric ceases a little bit and the climate changes,” Wilbanks said.
Gwinnett County Public Schools has 166,000 students, 20,000 teachers and support staff, and 27 million square feet of property scattered over 4,448 acres to protect. It has its own police chief, three zone commanders and a staff of school resource officers — 19 full-time and one part-time — all of whom carry guns and Tasers, said Steve Flynt, associate superintendent of school leadership and operations.
The school system has an extensive bus safety plan that’s reviewed regularly, as well as more than 4,000 cameras that are monitored at the system’s safety and security office, Flynt said.
Recent tragedies have “caused many of us to reflect on our readiness as an organization and as individuals,” he said.
Gwinnett County police volunteered to assist the school system immediately after the Newtown shooting. They provided extra manpower each school could have until the Christmas recess. City police also have increased their visibility at local schools, Flynt said.
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