POLK COUNTY, Fla. —
The Polk County School District is launching a massive construction project in an effort to keep children safe.
It's spending millions to change how the public enters campus.
“The goal is that anyone that has to ingress or egress into the school comes in through the office area,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
Most Polk parents can agree: The best way to ensure their child is safe is to make sure no one dangerous enters their school
“As far as entrances and exits, it would be good if they were more controlled,” Amy Smith said.
About 135 public and charter schools in the county currently have a single port of entry. Twenty of them do not. Judd says those schools are under construction, getting fences and gates.
One school is changing its whole layout. Judd did not want to specify which school, citing security concerns.
“I think that's a safe way! It's a safer and better way to do it because of all these things that are happening today around the world,” Talma Laurore said.
That's why the Polk County Sheriff's Office is focused on making sure all schools have the proper safety measures in place.
“Part of the security plan to keep children safe is to have a single point of entry once school takes in which means you simply lock the gates and lock the doors," Judd said. "The goal is to stop the active shooter should he want to enter the campus by just picking an open door. It really doesn’t cost a great deal of money in the sense that it's just locking the doors."
Parents do say they’re concerned with kids only having one way out of school in an emergency, but Judd says kids have multiple exits they can use in that case.
“Understand when we talk about a single point of entry we're talking about visitors and people that want to enter the campus. Our children have always been safe in schools. They're even safer now than they have been in the past,” Judd said.
The district says it will cost anywhere from $14,000 to $100,000 to convert each campus.
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