The Allen Parish school system is seeking a state grant to help support school safety efforts throughout the district’s eight campuses.

Child Welfare and Attendance Supervisor Kenney Courville said Tuesday the district has submitted a grant application to the Louisiana Department of Education’s Stronger Connections program for funding to increase security measures.

“Whether we get a grant or not, our goal will be to improve school safety and secure our schools,” Courville said. “We want our students and teachers to feel safe and be safe and for parents to know that their kids are safe at school.”

Courville said he and other school officials are having to worry about things that they thought they would never ever have to worry about, including school shootings, threats and other acts of violence.

“Students should be able to go to school and focus on learning, we want to remove any obstacles,” he said.

School improvements funded by the grant will vary based on the amount of funds received, however, school officials said the main focus will be on establishing single point entries on all school campuses. The plan includes adding perimeter fencing to some schools to allow for single point entry.

“Our schools were built to invite people in, not keep people out and that’s a hard transition and change of mindset,” Courville said. ““We still want our schools to welcome people, but at the same time we want to utilize safety measures in keeping our students and teachers safe.”

Visitors at most campuses are to enter in one designated place, usually near the school entrance. No visitors are to enter a campus through a side entrance or back door.

All schools are required to keep all exterior doors locked. Classroom doors are to remain locked while instruction is taking place.

“In the old days, we’d all open our rooms and everybody could walk in an out of our rooms into the hall, but those days are not the same anymore,” Superintendent Kent Reed said.

Several schools have already implemented a buzz-in system with cameras, which allow receptionists to press a button to unlock doors for visitors. Courville would like to see the system expanded to include all schools.

In response to the recently deadly Nashville school shooting, the district is now concerned about exposure of glass front doors and windows, Courville said.

School officials are eyeing a new laminate that has been made to allow a special security film to be installed to prevent windows and doors from shattering, which can allow access for intruders.

“A lot of our schools were designed with glass front doors and windows, we want to look at purchasing the laminate to keep the glass from shattering,” he said.

The district is also looking into metal detectors, especially for high schools and some middle schools.

More school resource officers are also needed for the school district.

Though a partnership with the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office a school resource officer is provided at schools in Fairview, Oakdale, Oberlin, Kinder and Elizabeth. The officers rotate among the eight campuses, but officials would like to see more officers available on all campuses.

“My big concern is at Fairview High School,” School Board member Carleen Mahaffey said. “They have no police department or sheriff’s office substation, so if that resource officer is at another school they have no one that can get there.”

The state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is requesting that each Louisiana public school system enter into an agreement with their local law enforcement agency to provide a school resource officer in every public school, according to Reed. The board is also requesting that the Louisiana Legislature provide funding to implement the program.

“There should be no higher priority than ensuring the safety of our children,” BESE President Dr. Holly Boffy said in a press release. “We urge our partners in the local systems and state lawmakers to take this step in protecting our schools.”

By strengthening the on-site security presence, resource officers can play key roles in developing best practices and procedures for schools to prevent threats to student and employee safety, she said.