Pine Level Elementary School Earns School Safety Award From Attorney General
As school officials nationwide are asking what what more can be done to keep their students safe, the safety standards and procedures at an Autauga Elementary School have caught the eye of the Attorney General.
Pine Level Elementary School in Deatsville received the ‘Safe Schools Initiative Award of Excellence’ – the only elementary school in the state to receive the honor.
“It’s important to highlight those schools that do it well and Pine Level is one of the best of the best we have in Alabama” said Attorney General Steve Marshall.
Principal Christen Harry said the school has a ‘Safety and Crisis Management Team’ made up of teachers and staff that meet regularly.”We look at every crisis that has happened throughout the country and we come back together and we think about what we can do better” she explained.
AG Marshall said the school stood out from other nominees for the award because “teachers are trained in what to do in the event of an emergency and they are being very proactive with students in talking about bullying”.
The school has also adopted an app, as a new communication tool. “It’s called a telegram app” explained Marshall “they can real-time communicate with one another which allows them to be able to identify where there is a threat, when the building is secured, and even the event of a fire”.
Funding is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to beefing up school security. According to Marshall, better school security doesn’t always mean more money.
“Obviously resources play a role” he said “but everything that we have talked about today doesn’t necessarily cost a lot of money. It really is relating to strategic planning where people come together and see what works best and that we integrate law enforcement in that discussion”.
A panel of independent judges reviewed submissions from 47 Alabama schools. Winners were selected from each of the eight state school board districts as well as private schools for each state region:
*District 1, Satsuma High School, Satsuma (Mobile County)
*District 2, Opelika Middle School, Opelika (Lee County)
*District 3, Nichols-Lawson Middle School, Sylacauga (Talladega County)
*District 4, No submissions were received this year
*District 5, Pine Level Elementary School, Deatsville (Autauga County)
*District 6, Austin High School, Decatur (Morgan County)
*District 7, Simmons Middle School, Hoover, (Jefferson County)
District 8, Bob Jones High School, Madison, (Madison County)
*Private School, Northern Region, Sumiton Christian School, Sumiton, (Walker County)
*Private School, Central Region, Coosa Valley Academy, Harpersville, (Shelby County)
*Private School, Southern Region, The Lakeside School, Eufaula, (Barbour County)
