Johnny Cordell, director of Sequatchie County SchoolsSequatchie County Schools leaders are looking to add an armed guard at the county’s elementary school, redesign school entrances and reshape school drop-off and pick-up procedures for parents, all in the name of school safety.
Sequatchie is among many Tennessee school districts finding ways to amp up security in the wake of the December massacre at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary in which 20 children and six adults were shot and killed.
The schools superintendent, Johnny Cordell, said he’ll ask the school board this month to approve a contract with an outside firm to hire an armed guard for Griffith Elementary School; the middle and high school already have county school resource officers.
Starting Monday, parents at Griffith Elementary must display special passes on their windshields to drop off or pick up students in cars. Without a placard, parents will have to go inside the building and show credentials to pick up their children. The school also no longer will allow parents beyond the front lobby without prior approval.
Cordell said he’s looking at redesigning entrances at all three county schools to add barriers between the front office/lobby area and the rest of the school.