CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A few years back in 2018, Alice ISD looked into safety and security at every one of their schools.
Alice Superintendent Dr. Carl Scarborough told 3NEWS, "one of the reasons why we closed three schools was because they were very difficult to secure. They were old buildings, multiple exits, all exteriors exposed."
In 2019, the district was awarded a grant that they would put solely towards upping security at all of their schools.
"We looked at putting security vestibules where people really needed permission to come inside and access and have a second layer," Dr. Scarborough explained. "We created a safety task force back in the summer of 2018. We've been ongoing with some of those improvements. We added extra security personnel over the years. We almost doubled that, where we had a security officer at every school."
In light of the tragedy in Uvalde, Alice ISD added more law enforcement personnel to all of their schools.
"We not only have security guards, but have a police officer at all of our schools," Dr. Scarborough added. "Currently, we have two police officers at our high school, two police offers at our middles school., and now we're looking to add those to our four elementary schools."
With most Texas schools starting this week, Alice ISD wants to remind parents that the little ones they drop off will be in good hands.
"All audits and layouts and maps are changing and really targeting security and safety this year," Dean of Instruction Maria Gonzalez said. "It's a great and positive way to start school and to adapt with the times that we're in."
"It's the environment we want to create for them," Dean of Instruction Lori Trafton shared. "We love our kids. From the moment they walk in until they leave, they're ours. We're going to do everything we can to make sure they're in the most secure environment."
The first day of school is August 15th and any additional security won't affect parents' usual routines with pick-up and drop-off.
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