GREENSBORO, N.C. — Its no secret that school has looked a lot different this year than in years past.
Most schools encourage students to make reports on the anonymous Say Something app. Some schools have body scanners, safety vestibules, and more security cameras.
As we near the end of the first semester of school, districts said they've done everything they can to make sure students and staff are safe.
From Alamance County, to Yadkin County and every district in between, enhancements were taken ahead of the school year to make sure violence is prevented.
Let's start in Yadkin County.
If you remember, just last Friday the Say Something app was used to inform administrators of a weapon on campus.
Superintendent Todd Martin said the app has proven success these first few weeks of school .
"It just so happens in this case, we did receive an anonymous tip regarding regarding a weapon on campus, and we are just very fortunate that we got the tip and acted on that very quickly," Superintendent Martin continues, "I do think it's prevented things like fights or bullying from happening, just simply because it enables us to act so quickly to bring a resolution."
Other school districts use the Say Something app as well.
Alamance Burlington Schools and Guilford County Schools said in addition to the physical upgrades like cameras, vestibules or body scanners, creating relationships with students is extremely important.
That is what helped ABSS locate a weapon on campus Thursday.
"That was exactly what happened. A student felt very comfortable going to the school counselor and talking to them and reporting a gun incident," ABSS spokesperson Les Atkins explains, "the biggest things that we’re doing is we had a concentrated effort on building relationships with students. You don’t always think about that when you think about school safety, but that is a big part of school safety because that way students feel comfortable going to an administrator going to a teacher and talking to them about concerns.”
Guilford County Schools feels the same, and continues to encourage students to make reports if they see something odd.
GCS Superintendent, Dr. Whitney Oakley spoke with us last week about the districts continued safety efforts, "safety has always been a top priority. I think it is especially now, we want students to, if they see something to say something and that's what we are going to continue to push."
Lexington City Schools has recently dealt with threats made against their high school and middle school. Dr. Nakia Hardy, Superintendent of LCS, said keeping a strong relationship and open communication with local law enforcement is another safety measure they keep in place.
"We continue to maintain enhanced security measures across all of our schools. As part of our steadfast commitment to safety, we have proactively installed security cameras to monitor all of our school campuses. These cameras enhance our ability to respond effectively to various situations and provide information to law enforcement. And our clear backpack policy implemented for the school year on all of our LCS campuses," Dr. Hardy explained during a press conference at the beginning of October.
Schools districts said as technology improves, they will continue to add more layers of protection to their schools to ensure that they are a step ahead of any potential threat there may be.