Bellefontaine City Schools is committed to safety for its students and staff, and in the wake of the recent mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, BCS leaders met with Bellefontaine Police Chief Brandon Standley and several of his staff earlier this month.
The meeting included Bellefontaine City Schools Superintendent Brad Hall, BCS Director of Administrative Services Roger Ely, Chief Standley, Lt. Chris Marlow, Lt. Scott Marlow and School Resource Officer Isaac Chiles.
The six of them discussed several ways to maintain a safe learning environment at Bellefontaine High School, Bellefontaine Middle School, Bellefontaine Intermediate School, and Bellefontaine Elementary School.
Each building features layers of security regarding entry points (with two sets of doors).
The school resource officers will continue to send a strong message about doors not being left propped open.
Chief Standley reflected on the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Buffalo and Tulsa.
“Mental health is driving this, but it’s just pure evil. We can all learn something from these tragedies,” he said.
The police chief was very complimentary of the work done by school resource officers at BHS, BMS, and BIS. Chiles is the DARE Officer and school resource officer at BIS.
Doug Walters is the school resource officer at BHS. Allen Huffman is the school resource officer at BMS.
The School Resource Officer program began in Bellefontaine City Schools in August 2017 and is funded through a partnership with Bellefontaine City Schools and the Bellefontaine Police Department.
“The partnership we have with the Bellefontaine Police Department is exceptional. Our goal will always focus on creating a safe and secure environment for our students to learn and our teachers to teach,” Superintendent Hall said.
“This meeting was just another example of the ongoing communication between our organizations to meet that goal every day.”
Standley said staff interaction with the school resource officers is critical. This communication can help resolve issues quickly.
School resource officers also are expected to build relationships with students, Standley noted. These interactions can be very powerful, especially for younger students.