Barrow County School Board is under scrutiny with parents and teachers calling for more safety measures

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. – Emotions ran high in Barrow County as some community members expressed frustration over the school board’s response to the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School. Several community members addressed school officials at Tuesday night’s board meeting, saying not enough is being done to increase safety in the wake of the tragedy.

The school board meeting began with district officials thanking groups that have provided resources to the school community since the Sept. 4 incident and ended with community members saying that wasn’t enough and calling for additional safety measures to be taken.

“It was a student who was the first to call first responders, it was a student who was the first to alert the police to what was going on,” one parent said.

Just over two months after two teachers and two students were killed and nine others injured, trauma continues to consume those closest to the tragedy.

“My classroom shared a wall with the room where the gunfire started,” one faculty member said through tears.

The impact of that trauma was on full display at Tuesday’s board meeting, when some parents, staff and other community members criticized the school district’s safety plan in the weeks after Apalachee fully resumed.

“It was recently stated at a work session that we are still investigating, what if any, and the fact that there is still talk of ‘if any’ is beyond disgusting,” the parent told school board members .

Layla Renee Contreras, founder of Change for Chee, tells FOX 5 her mother and sister were in the school at the time of the shooting. She spoke of what she called “a lack of urgency” among board members to implement a clear bag policy and have metal detectors installed.

“It is extremely disheartening to see that nothing has changed from the moment this tragedy occurred, and that these children and teachers are now returning to school in the face of the tragedy, and nothing has done anything for them,” she said. Contreras to FOX 5. .

According to the district’s website, Barrow County Schools has increased the number of school staff on campuses and added classroom phones for teachers. While they are still assessing feedback on other recommendations, they expect this to be completed early next year.

Parents say the school also turned off cell phone service for students in the building.

“I can’t verify his location, and I think all the parents who were there at the time understand how valuable that was to us,” she said.

The district offering teachers 90 minutes a week for therapy sessions also raised concerns.

“For the Apalachee staff, some of our therapy sessions are tense, and returning to the site of our trauma immediately afterwards is not conducive to our healing,” one teacher told board members.

Community members who spoke Tuesday evening said they hope their voices will be heard, and that district officials will consider taking action more quickly.