GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Some of our local school districts discussed steps to improve school safety Tuesday.
School is out for summer and some districts are already preparing for the new year.
Guilford County will test out body scanners. Alamance-Burlington school leaders talked about other building upgrades and adding school resource officers.
Guilford County Schools will start a pilot program for those body scanners next week.
The Alamance-Burlington Schools Board of Education met with county commissioners to discuss school safety. They lined up three main goals they want to achieve.
First, the district wants to update school buildings with cameras secure doors and windows.
School leaders also are planning a school safety task force to handle future concerns.
Third, the district wants to hire full-time SROs for elementary schools.
At a community forum with Alamance County leaders, the school board said it needs more money to hire 14 more full-time SROs.
They said it would cost about half a million dollars. It's something the county would have to approve in their budget later this month.
"The interim county manager proposed four SROs already. The discussion today was about 14, which is 10 additional SROs," Commission Chair John Paisley said. "We will take a vote on our budget and that will hopefully include additional resources."
The district hopes to form the school safety task force in the next few months.
As for the SROs, even with funding, it could take up to a year to hire and train those officers.