Education
School board takes deeper look at safety
A special committee of the Georgetown County School Board will spend the next seven weeks studying safety and security in schools.
The committee was approved last week after more than 20 minutes of discussion by board members about whether a committee was needed, or whether information should just be given to the entire board during its meetings.
Board Member Robert Cox served on a school board safety committee previously and said based on what came out of that work, the district is “a whole lot safer now.”
Cox said it’s “very important” to go back and see where the district stands now and where it needs to go.
“Obviously you all know I’m an advocate for security and safety,” he added. “We’ve taken big, big steps. I think we can take bigger steps.”
Board Member Patti Hammell suggested the information should be given to the entire board, not a committee.
“I don’t think there needs to be a singled out committee because I think every member of this board is dedicated to safety and security,” Hammel said. “I think for everybody to get the information at the same time is very important rather than little pockets of information.”
Cox questioned why the board was “arguing” about forming a committee.
“We are elected officials and we have the responsibility to make sure our kids are safe,” he said.
Board Member Kathy Anderson agreed with Hammel.
“That way we’re all together. We can have our discussions like right now,” Anderson said. “We’re talking, we’re discussing. We’re not arguing, we’re just discussing.”
Cox floated the idea of having a monthly workshop in addition to the two regular meetings instead of forming a committee.
“The reason we formed committees before was because we were told to discuss stuff up here two nights a month for a couple of hours is not enough to take care of the security and safety of our kids,” he said.
Superintendent Bethany Giles said items can be added to the agenda for the second meeting of the month.
Second meetings are a “work sessions.”
Giles also reminded the board that there will be a lot of budget matters to discuss in the next few months.
“That is a huge priority and considering time, I just want to bring it to your attention, or bring it back to your attention,” she said.
Board Member Scott DuBose said whenever he’s attended a board workshop, a discussion of one topic could take two or three hours.
“I just feel like having this whole board trying to meet on a topic like this, fitting it in to a normal board meeting, is going to be very unwieldy,” he added.
A committee would have a lot more “flexibility” in terms of time, DuBose said.
The vote to form the committee was 6-2. Hammel and Anderson were opposed.
“I’m not against safety. I don’t think any of us have a sinister idea about what safety is,” Hammel said. “I just think that everybody needs to be on the same page.”
“I’m not anti committee. I just think we should all be the committee,” Anderson said. “I’m all about safety too. I worked in these schools for years. I’m all about safety for children.”
Serving on the committee will be DuBose, Cox, Chairman Keith Moore and Fallon Bordner.
According to the Freedom Of Information Act, since it is an official committee of the board, the district will have to give public notice of meetings at least 48 hours in advance and the meetings must be open to the public and the media.
The board’s last safety committee did not give public notice nor allow the meetings to be open.
Bordner expressed concerns about discussing safety in open meetings.
Alan Walters, the district’s chief operations officer, said topics such as types of security equipment, security techniques and investigative procedures are exceptions to FOIA and can be discussed in executive session.
The board has a policy that it does not have any standing committees. If a special committee is formed, it can only operate for two months unless granted an extension by the chairman.
The function of a special committee has to be “fact finding, deliberative and advisory.”
Since the vote to form the committee occurred on April 1, its work will have to be finished by June 1, unless an extension is granted, Giles said.
