COLUMBUS, Ohio — Increasing school security continues to be among the top priorities for officials at Groveport Madison Schools.
In an interview with 10TV News Monday, Deputy Superintendent Paul Smathers discussed security measures currently put in place at schools and athletic facilities and long-term safety plans of the Groveport Madison School Board.
Since the start of this school year, weapons detectors paired with additional security staff have been placed at Groveport Madison High School and at football games.
The security measures came after multiple safety incidents involving students and fans bringing guns to school the previous academic year. Most recently, there was an incident at the Groveport Madison football game at Canal Winchester where fans not associated with either school brought in multiple Glock 9 mm guns.
School leaders with Groveport Madison High School said since the school year started, they have not had any major incidents inside their high school, which they to credit their new safety staff and weapons detector systems.
“It’s really made a difference in our school day. It’s been a heck of an adjustment, especially entering our school through the Evolv safety systems, but the kids are really appreciative of it,” Smathers said.
The district is trying to secure additional safety grants to continue to address safety and security concerns inside schools and at athletic events.
Smathers said additional funding could help the district keep up with the latest technology, including new surveillance cameras.
Smathers said the school board’s plan is to have the Evolv weapons detectors at all schools.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article suggested that the topic of adding weapons detectors at all Groveport Madison school buildings would be discussed during a board meeting Wednesday night. That specific discussion, however, is not on the agenda. Regarding Evolv, the only item on the agenda is a memorandum on staffing for the systems currently in place at the high school. 10TV regrets the misunderstanding.
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