MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The first day of school for MSCS comes just one week after a shooting at a Memphis Hebrew day school. That incident made school safety an increased priority for parents as the new year gets started.
Anthony Buckner is a former school resource officer (SRO) and current Shelby County Chief Deputy working to improve school safety.
“We spent the summer going over safety protocols, going over active shooter drills,” Buckner said.
The sheriff’s office works with MSCS to put more armed SROs in schools across the district.
“So, over the summer, while kids were out vacationing and having a good time, our deputies were here at the academy, just going through workshops, going through tactical training so they would be ready on day one, and we can continue to remain ready should someone bring some type of violent threat to a campus,” Buckner said.
It hasn’t been that simple for some schools. The sheriff’s department said they’ve been communicating with local charter schools about adding armed officers, but not every school is on board with the idea.
“I think a lot of people look at the uniform, they may look at the weapons and things of that nature and say, 'Well, you know what, I’m not certain if I want an officer walking around children,'” Buckner said. “Our SROs are campus friends, they're mentors, they're big brothers, they're fathers.”
Each day is a work in progress for the SCSO to provide safety and financial support to increase the number of armed SROs in schools. The sheriff’s office has already applied for grants from the state for 15 of the 17 schools the officers are in. If selected, the grant could give the department about $75,000 per school.
Alongside the sheriff’s department, MSCS also passed a budget improving safety measures.
“I have wonderful board members who approved a 2.2-billion-dollar budget, and so we have over 50 million dollars in this year’s budget on safety initiatives,” Superintendent Toni Williams said.
The district has plans to put up fencing around schools, increase the SRO and safety monitor presence and add weapon-detecting monitors to campuses.
“There's nothing more important to me than making sure kids are safe,” Buckner said. “So, we want to make sure that parents know that the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, we're doing everything we can every day to make sure that we are making the appropriate adjustments to keep kids safe.”
Chief Deputy Buckner said the most helpful effort for them to put more deputies in schools is by getting the word out that the sheriff’s office is actively hiring.