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New SC coalition releases recommendations for school safety policies

The plan calls on local, state, and federal policies to address violence against children in schools

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Coalition for Safer Schools unveiled its 2022-2023 school Safety Policy Agenda, Friday, to address rising violence against children in schools. 

"We as members of the coalition for safer schools in South Carolina believe that that freedom also incorporates the freedom to attend a school free of fear," said Patrick Kelly from the Palmetto State Teacher's Association. 

The coalition was formed by the Palmetto State Teachers Association, the South Carolina Counseling Association, The South Carolina Association of School Psychologists, the Institute for Child Success, and the South Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Policy Agenda outlines five in-school factors: student mental health resources, staffing and school resource officers, school facilities, research-based training and prevention, and mandatory responses.

According to the South Carolina Association of School Psychologists, the nationally recommended ratio of school psychologists is one for every 500 students.  Pre-pandemic data shows South Carolina is sitting around one to every 1,400.

For the 2021 to 2022 school year, approximately 300 of the more than 1,200 public schools in South Carolina did not have a full-time school resource officer. 

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"When we surveyed our members a lot of them said the safety procedure is 'I'm supposed to keep my doors and windows closed, but the HVAC doesn't work and it's August in South Carolina and I can’t have my students falling out from heat stroke, so I’ve got my window open," said Kelly.  

Kelly added HVAC improvements are an appropriate use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds that school districts can use and implement right now. 

Other in-school recommendations include the requirement of automatically locking classroom doors, requirements for universal staff locking ability, and requirements for blinds or window covers. 

It also addresses five out-of-school factors such as a statewide school safety center, child access prevention (CAP) laws, addressing firearm theft, the creation of community programming, and social media regulation. 

According to the agenda, the statewide school safety center would merge "information from multiple agencies in order to ensure consistent statewide practices in areas like violence prevention and response that are consistently evaluated, improved, and updated."

Kelly said one area of agreement among the state legislature is reporting and addressing firearm theft.

"There's really nothing here that's beyond the purview of the General Assembly," said Kelly. 

A recent FBI report showed a 225% increase in stolen firearms from vehicles over the last decade, with Columbia and North Charleston among the top five cities in the nation for the rate of stolen firearms per 100,000 people.

Deion Jamison, a teacher at Legacy Early College in Greenville and the 2023 South Carolina teacher of the year, shared a personal experience of when his school underwent a lockdown.  

"I could tell by the look of horror on her face that this was not a drill," said Jamison. "The suspect was eventually apprehended. And luckily no students or staff members were physically harmed. But I'll have to think about was what if?"

Jamison added this agenda is crucial because it is "impossible for students to learn at optimal levels, or for teachers to give their best lessons if basic needs such as safety is not met."

Chris Larson is a mom of six. When she sends her 17-year-old child or five-year-old grandchild to school, she is thinking about their safety. 

"When you hear about attacks at schools, it brings it home like wow this really could happen to us, or our children other people's children, our grandchildren," said Larson 

She also worries about how fear is impacting their learning. 

"Children aren't going to learn or focus or be engaged if they’re not in a safe, comfortable learning environment," she said. “Its sad these are things we think about more and more frequently because they happen more and more frequently"

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