MADISON COUNTY — With the start of the school year rapidly approaching, local district officials are not only gearing up to start teaching but also fine tuning their school safety plans.

Joe Buck, South Madison Community School Corp. superintendent, and Bobby Fields, Frankton-Lapel Community Schools superintendent, said student and staff safety is their top priority.

School districts are required to submit annual emergency preparedness plans to the Indiana Department of Education for review, but in addition to state measures, both districts are securing funds and making plans to keep children and staff safe.

Both districts conduct state-mandated safety drills to prepare students and staff for emergencies.

“As a district, we are continually evaluating and learning to strengthen our school safety plans, which are created and reviewed yearly in collaboration with local law enforcement and the Indiana Department of Education,” Buck wrote in an email to The Times-Post.

Public school corporations are required by the state to employ at least one certified school safety specialist.

Leaders at Lapel schools follow state laws, Fields said, and have also secured entryways in all buildings as well as security cameras in all district buildings.

“We have school safety plans that are specific to each building and at least one school safety specialist in each building who goes through training and certifications each year,” Fields said.

Frankton-Lapel schools also have check-in procedures at each building, and each building’s safety plan calls for all doors to be closed and locked at all times.

The district also provides professional development for all employees on a variety of safety and security topics throughout the year, Fields said.

District officials paid $2,500 for training and consulting for a safety session titled “Preventing the Preventable Deaths” in late July.

The training session was led by active-duty police officers who have a company called Crisis Training & Consulting; it is designed to work with school officials to keep students and staff safe.

The South Madison district has a director of school safety who is a certified school safety specialist, plus each district building has a crisis team comprised of administrators, counselors and teachers who are safety specialists.

In total, there are 35 certified school safety specialists throughout the district.

The corporation also has two school resource officers (SROs) and is considering hiring a third, Buck said.

The district is part of the Madison County School Safety Committee, making it eligible to apply for the $50,000 Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s Secured School Safety Grant.

The district has successfully applied for the grant the past four years and was approved for the grant for the upcoming school year, Buck said.

Through the grant and the corporation’s Capital Projects Fund, school leaders have been able to secure entrances in all buildings and are continuing to add and upgrade security cameras throughout the district.

The camera security system can be accessed remotely on a cell phone or other devices at any location by school and emergency personnel, Buck said. There are also secure areas inside the buildings where possible.

School districts have teamed with local law enforcement to keep schools safe.

South Madison also has a memorandum of understanding with the Pendleton Police Department to have a full-time officer to serve as director of the district’s SRO program.

The school corporation and police department split the salary and benefits of the full-time officer. The Pendleton police provided an additional officer, who serves as the corporation’s second resource officer. The school corporation is responsible for the salary of the second certified SRO, Buck said.

South Madison has a positive working relationship with local, county and state police as well as the local fire departments and other emergency management personnel, Buck said.

“Local law enforcement and emergency management observe and evaluate our buildings and provide feedback and suggestions,” he said.

South Madison safety specialists receive training, including safety conferences. The district also provides additional professional development throughout the year, which includes mental health training and safe school training.

Also, the district has taken part in a program called “Teaching the Teen Brain — an introspective approach” provided by the Madison County Juvenile Probation Department. Through the program, administrators and school counselors have attended mental health training via the Madison County Health Department.