Schools Struggling to Keep up With Safety Mandates

By Campus Contingency

An annual statewide school safety report for West Virginia released last week by the state Department of Education shows many schools are struggling to keep up with safety requirements while satisfying other education requirements throughout the state. 

The safety requirements include hiring a school resource officer, installing weapon detection systems and upgrading school building’s doors and windows, according to the report.

State School Facilities Director Micah Whitlow said during the state DoE meeting that the administration at each school has been instructed to report back to the department regarding any updates to their school’s safety and security measures, and the department has compiled the data based on what they have received from each school’s assessment this year.

“They look at what needs they have and what things they have accomplished, then the department is responsible for compiling that information into a report which you see here and delivering it to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability, which the plan may be in December or January delivering that,” Whitlow said.

State Board of Education President Paul Hardesty told a local West Viriginia news affiliate that the current demands and costs of operating the state’s 637 schools at just 51% capacity is getting unmanageable, and some scaling back may be the only option.

“There’s not an endless supply of money, yet the needs are there, it really magnifies the teacher shortage, the cost of school safety,” Hardesty said. “And again, nobody wants to give up their school, I get that, but we have to make decisions based on student achievement and on the outcome of the children.”

Whitlow said the department is now required to set aside a special revenue policy known as the Safe Schools Fund determining how the money will be distributed if granted by legislature appropriations helping to fund any school safety and security needs.

As of today, all West Virginia counties are in compliance with state laws requiring video cameras in special education classrooms, according to the report, but technology lags in other areas. There currently is an $11 million request to place video cameras in other parts of school buildings.

Beyond meeting requirements, the remaining funds will be dispersed based on the determination of further needs. Whitlow said there several needs which still must be met at some schools.

“There are still 299 schools that don’t have safe entries. There are some counties that still don’t have the required numbering systems on their windows and doors, and we want to work with them to identify what problems they have and why they’re not up, then set a deadline, and if they don’t meet that deadline, there will be some consequences,” he said.

Whitlow said $173,602,058 is in the overall budget request for safety and security needs sent to the legislature for the coming year—that cost includes more than $66 million just to address the remaining “safe school entry ways.” 

A total of 318 schools still need resource officers on their premises, and 287 schools need a prevention resource officer, according to the report. Whitlow said hiring officers into these schools, will cost a significant amount.

“We [surveyed] the cost … to accomplish that, and both for SROs and PROs, it was $25 million dollars if [schools] were to have the officers that they wanted,” Whitlow said.

In addition to the cost of security cameras, entry ways, and officers at the schools, nearly $18 million was requested for weapon detection systems, a little over $22 million for doors and windows, as well as remaining budget requests for additional needs and resources.