DUBLIN, Ga. — Since Dublin City Schools hired their former police chief as safety director, they decided to beef up security at the schools. They bought eight new metal detectors -- that's on top of the six they have already.
Angelita Jackson, a mom of three children in Dublin Schools, says she grew up in Brooklyn and passed through metal detectors in school. She says that added protection made her feel secure.
With metal detectors and badge access required for main doors, Dublin City Schools shows they take security seriously.
"It's a deterrence. I think the metal detectors are our first line of defense in protecting our students and our staff, and that's important because that's our future," Jackson said.
Jackson says she's behind anything that keeps her children safe.
"I don't want to ever be that parent that gets that phone call like so many have. There's nothing that anybody could say to me if something was to happen to my children," Jackson said.
According to Tim Chatman, Dublin City Schools' safety director, they'll place metal detectors at all school entrances and athletic events.
"It's hard to learn when you feel unsafe," Chatman said.
The district also increased their number of school resource officers. Now, there is one at each school. The school already has surveillance cameras and safety buttons for staff.
"Make sure that we can do everything possible to save a life, to ensure that safe and secure and loving environment for our staff and our students," Chatman said.
Chatman says there wasn't any incident at the Dublin campuses that prompted the added security. He says in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting and others, schools across the country evaluated their safety procedures again.
"Unfortunately, this is our new norm. Children are so defenseless, they don't know what's going on. In order for them to be successful, we have to make sure whatever is coming into the schools is educationally related," Jackson said.
Chatman says one of the first things he did when he became safety director was train their staff on active shooter situations to make sure they learned how to respond in the right way.
In the future, Chatman hopes to add an interior door system to lock school doors from the inside in case of an active shooter.