Harford County Public Schools is hosting a community meeting discussing school safety

(WBFF) — On Tuesday, Harford County Public Schools held a community meeting that provided an opportunity for parents, staff and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office to discuss school safety.

Dozens of people gathered at Patterson Mill Middle/High School to discuss where the Harford County school system is effective in addressing school safety and where it can improve.

“Any idea they bring to us, we can evaluate to see if we can make our schools safer,” said Dr. Sean Bulson, superintendent of Harford County Public Schools.

The meeting comes a few weeks after that of 15-year-old Warren Grant shot in the school bathroom at Joppatowe High School.

Jaylen Prince, 16, who was also a student at Joppatowe High School, was charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, use of a firearm and other charges. He is accused of taking a gun from his backpack during an argument and shooting Grant.

Since the shooting, a petition has been circulating online in which residents and community members are advocating for metal detectors and clear backpacks to be installed in Harford County schools to keep students safe.

“I think the security of the school system is poor,” said James McVicker, a student at Harford County School System. “We need to make some improvements and we are making big steps in the right direction. I think with more time, more community outreach and more action, we can make great improvements.”

“From my point of view, I can’t learn if I don’t feel safe,” he added.

Bulson said the school system is in the process of considering the types of technology to keep schools safe and other resources they can use. They also evaluate day-to-day policies.

“We will complete an assessment of available technologies,” Bulson said. “So some of what we’re looking at isn’t exactly metal detectors, but again, I think there’s next-generation technology. So we will look and evaluate whether this is a good solution.”

Aaron Poynton, chairman of the Harford County School Board, also said a system-wide clear backpack policy and the possible implementation of other gun detection systems are being considered.

During Tuesday’s meeting, community members raised many ideas, including more training for school safety liaisons, more realistic emergency drills, thoughts on how to best monitor student safety in bathrooms and even hiring more school resource officers.

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office said it will support additional SROs in schools. Their latest budget request asked the county government to fund three additional positions.

“This allows us to protect more schools with more school resource officers and gives us a greater ability to cover elementary schools,” said Col. William Davis, chief deputy of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.

“As far as whether we can allocate more for this purpose, it all depends on the county government and whether they want to fund more school resource officers,” he added.

School officials said they will consider feedback from Tuesday’s meeting when establishing new policies and procedures. While it’s unclear what additional policies might be introduced and when, Bulson said the school system is constantly considering safety updates.

“We will constantly be making adjustments, but we do it all the time anyway,” Bulson said. “Our safety and security practices are evolving, we have made many changes over the last six years that I have been here and we are constantly looking for ways to improve them.”