‘A top priority.’ Beaufort Co. police, school officials talk safety after Texas shooting
The day after a deadly mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, Beaufort County law enforcement agencies and the county superintendent said they are constantly working to improve their active shooter training to make schools “as safe as possible.”
The heads of four enforcement agencies and Superintendent Frank Rodriguez held a press conference Wednesday to talk about how they prepare students and schools in case a similar situation occurs in Beaufort County.
“I know that we all hugged our children a little tighter today and a little longer today,” Rodriguez said. “Safety and security is a top priority for us here at the Beaufort County School District.”
In the day following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a school serving students from second to fourth grades, the school district didn’t see an uptick in school absences, said Candace Bruder, a spokesperson for the school district. She said some parents had called the district about available counseling for concerned students.
South Carolina requires districts to conduct at least two active shooter drills per year, Rodriguez said, and the Beaufort County School District does at least three more than the monthly emergency drills. The active shooter training, he said, is a “continuous improvement process.” He did not say how the active shooter drills are being documented and how the district ensures they are being conducted.
“We’re always looking at different security measures we can shift and adjust,” he said. “We’re looking at our own internal security systems and, as we do that, we will make those changes and adjustments.”
Rodriguez declined to name the specifics of those security measures as a safety precaution. But he mentioned the district’s plans to add more student resource officers at schools, preferably two “per year, if they are available,” Rodriguez said.
‘Everything we can’
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner, Bluffton Police Chief Stephenie Price, Beaufort Police Chief Dale McDorman and Port Royal Police Chief Alan Beach were also in attendance.
Police “always train for worst-case scenarios,” Tanner at Wednesday’s press conference.
“With all the experience we have ... it is difficult to train for 100%,” Tanner said. “But we try our best to make sure that what we are applying in our training fits our geographic areas within the county.”
Law enforcement meets regularly with school officials to discuss school safety, McDorman said. They are “doing everything they can to address these issues before they happen and we’ll continue to do that,” McDorman said.
Law enforcement has increased patrols around schools, Price said. There are free resources available for counseling, Price said.
“It is never too little or too small to report something that you see that you think is amiss,” Price said. “Please take the opportunity to do that.”
Counseling services are provided at Beaufort County schools to provide support in the wake of the Texas mass shooting, Rodriguez said.
“Information is critical to our response,” he said. “The sooner we have it, the more we have it, the more we can engage our partners and we can deal with situations.”
Incidents at Beaufort County schools
Beaufort County schools have had at least a dozen lockdown incidents for the 2021-22 school year, including seven due to threats of gun violence, in December. Those came after four people were killed in a shooting at a Michigan high school, according to previous reporting from the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
At least one Beaufort County student faced charges in December after graffiti warning students not to come to school was found on bathroom walls. No shootings took place. The schools that were threatened had extra police officers following the threats, according to previous reporting.
Two other schools, Battery Creek High School and Robert Smalls International Academy, were also threatened in January.
In September, a Beaufort Elementary student brought a gun and a loaded magazine to school. That month, the school board approved a contract with S & S Management Group LLC, doing business as GuardOne Security, to station private, armed guards at elementary schools in the county.
The district pays approximately $950,000 annually for 18 guards, a supervisor and a “roamer” who is a substitute for other guards for the district’s elementary schools. High schools and middle schools are equipped with School Resource Officers who are trained police officers.
In October, a St. Helena man out on bond was charged after he brought a gun to the Beaufort High School campus.
A security guard with Guard One left their gun unattended in a Mossy Oaks Elementary School bathroom in February. The bathroom had no lock or passcode that could have prevented other students or staff from entering. At a board meeting that month, officials from the security company said they had revised their training because of the incident.
This month, at least six students were petitioned to family court for four fighting incidents and two cases where students brought knives to school.
