Baldwin County school safety committee finds problems, solutions

BADLWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WALA) - In the wake of recent tragedies across the country, a school safety committee has been touring Baldwin County schools. They said they found some problems and came up with some solutions. FOX10 News wanted to know how long it would take to make some of the needed changes.　

ISSUES FOUND - SOLUTIONS DISCUSSED 

In Baldwin County, a group of six volunteer advisors with enforcement backgrounds have been touring schools. Ex Secret Service Agent Kevin Levy said they immediately found things that needed changing. He said cameras were more focused on students rather than possible intruders.

 "Remember when a lot of these systems were put in place, they weren't necessarily placed there with the mindset a lot of parents and students and teachers have now after some of the incidents have come to light," Levy said.

 They said they also found communication could be a serious issue in a crisis.

 "We want to improve the ability, not only for schools to communicate with first responders, but also for schools to communicate amongst themselves," Levy told us. 

He said some of the security issues could be easily changed with standardized security procedures.  

"Most of what we found is not necessarily an over-expensive fix, but rather a procedural thing that is already in place might be with some modifications can be used more efficiently," Levy said.

SCHOOL SYSTEM RESPONDS 

Baldwin County Superintendent Dr. Alan Lee said the school system's security has never had such a thorough going-over. 

"These guys are really going to reinforce good positive safety behavior, and I know that it is not going to cost a lot to do some of the very basic things they've identified," Dr. Lee said. 

A big question will be how fast will the system make these changes?

"Those things that cost us nothing will be things we implement right away," Dr. Lee said. "Those items that they suggest we do that are going to cost us money, we’re (going to) look for the money to budget and get those taken care of."

He said one of the things the system is likely to budget for is a new radio system to help with communication.

"We don't want anything to ever happen to any of our children so we are going to do what it takes to make sure that doesn't happen," Dr. Lee said.

 SAFETY COMMITTEE WILL CONTINUE TO EVALUATE

So far, the public safety committee has only toured a handful of schools but eventually members intend on touring all 45 campuses in Baldwin County.