Many facets of school safety, emergency procedures and parental concerns were discussed at the Community and Schools Safety Summit that was hosted in the Model High School auditorium on Thursday night, but one thing was reiterated by officials: an emergency can happen anytime, anywhere.

Anna Lumpkin, regional school safety coordinator for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said the Sandy Hook school shootings are forever ingrained in minds across the world, but acts of violence are unpredictable, regardless of any amount of preparation. 

These incidents have “happened before, and they’re going to happen again,” she said. “And most often, we’ve planned for what’s just occurred.” 

Lumpkin said, currently, schools across the state are likely looking at their weather emergency drill strategies, after a tornado tore through Adairsville on Wednesday. 

Lumpkin also said that, while many attribute school shooting to bullying issues, school shooters aren’t always going to be the ones that were bullied. However, bullying prevention in schools is important. 

She also encouraged parents to update their student’s records if a parent contact number changes, in order for the school to be able to contact them in case they’re needed.

She said when things occur at our schools, we have to make sure we’re getting that information from a credible source, adding that impulsive Facebook posting or Tweeting or the like can cause misinformation and unnecessary panic.

Jerry Jennings, a Berry College professor and licensed psychologist, said that, from a mental health standpoint, counseling services, bullying prevention strategies and crisis interventions are being exercised actively at Floyd County Schools. He also said when he’s asked students if they felt safe in their school environments, the answer was unanimously yes. 

However, Jennings stressed that arming teachers and increasing school security to the maximum level so that parents felt better about their children’s safety would spark fear and anxiety in the students. 

Scotty Hancock, director of the Floyd County Emergency Management Agency, said a school system-wide test of the communication radio emergency buttons worked exceptionally well on Thursday and emphasized that the radios would be tested about every month to ensure they work in case of any crisis.