Wake County schools security leaders and SROs hold safety training ahead of new school year

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Thousands of Wake County students on the traditional calendar year will soon be heading back to the classroom. Wednesday, district safety leaders, school principals, and school resource officers all met to talk and collaborate on ways to keep students safe.

It's part of the annual School Resource Summit that brings all the players to the table to focus on student safety.

"I'm really excited about it. We have a mentoring session that's basically strengthening the SRO relationship with the principal," said Kendrick Scott, Wake County Schools Director of Security and Safety.

Scott said this year marks the 10th year of the SRO summit. The all-day event includes sessions on new safety features the district is rolling out this school year. The district implemented the new Say Something Anonymous reporting app, and the RAVE Panic app, specifically for educators and administrators.

Participants took part in an exercise on parent reunification procedures during an emergency.

"We understand that they want their children whenever there's an incident at school. Well, that influx, we've got to well-organize that so it's a very smooth process and it doesn't cause more trauma for our students, our staff, and our parents," continued Scott.

Scott said it takes more than SROs to keep kids safe. Everyone plays a part. "It's physical security. It's changing behavior within the district with our students. It's our staff supervision plans, and it's our SROs. So, this is just one piece of a very broad way of keeping all of our students safe," Scott explained.

"That's the whole purpose of SROs within the schools, you know, to form those relationships in advance. So the students are comfortable and addressing officers within the school. These students, they don't see that SRO as an officer," said Holly Springs Police Sgt. Tom Brienzi, who also serves as a school resource officer supervisor.

Brienzi said another challenge is social media incidents making its way to campus.

"Children are on electronic devices and may be saying or doing things that aren't necessarily appropriate in a school environment. Historically, that's the hardest one to navigate. And that's what we talk about more and more often than not," said Brienzi.

Wake County has partnered with 14 law enforcement agencies to help serve as school resource officers for middle and high school students across the county.