Gilmer County Schools continue under a ‘secure’ designation this week following a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County which killed two teachers and two students last week.
“We are going to continue this through the week,” said Dr. Brian Ridley, superintendent of Gilmer County Schools.
Copycat threats following the events at Apalachee have been rife throughout the state with several arrests made for the threats.
Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson said the copycat threats began just after the shooting in Barrow County.
“Social media is the worst thing that has happened,” he said about people spreading false information.
Ridley said anyone seeing the threats online should share them with law enforcement officials or school administrators. However, they should refrain from sharing them online or passing them on the others.
Gilmer County schools secure condition is an abundance of caution. Some online memes have been circulated with the names of the schools changed but the same pictures. At this point, though, some have had Gilmer, none have been traced to a local source.
“We don’t have any, and I mean any, credible threat whatsoever that anything is going to happen at a Gilmer County school,” said Nicholson.
Ridley and Nicholson both said they are in touch with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other state agencies, running down any threats.
Nicholson said the basis of one concern began in Pickens County who was investigating a possible threat.
A student in Pickens called a parent in Gilmer County and mentioned they thought the threat might extend to Gilmer County. A school resource officer was contacted by the parent.
“We notified the school administration, and they went ahead and set the secure condition,” Nicholson said.
While there is no credible threat, Nicholson said his department is still running down any possibilities. All threats are taken seriously.
“I promise you we take these things seriously,” he said. “We take school safety seriously.”
In a school year, they have eight to 10 incidents a year where a student may make a statement or leave a threat in graffiti.
“We regularly have these kinds of cases,” he said. “We deal with them swiftly and harshly.”
Nicholson said a high percentage of his people have family in the school system. They have a vested interest in keeping the schools safe.
Gilmer County deputies regularly train for the possibility of school violence.
“That is a major focus of our in-house training,” he said.
Ridley said local law enforcement and the sheriff are very responsive to needs in the school system.
“We really appreciate [the sheriff],” he said. “We have got a great relationship with him.”
For the schools part, Ridley said safety is job one. If students don’t feel safe, they cannot learn. He has 600 people working toward this goal.
“We protect kids every day,” he said. “We are always thinking about possibilities and how to keep kids safe.”
A ‘secure’ designation means the school staff are being extra vigilant. There is a heightened level of awareness, doors and entries are being double checked, administration and school resource officers are making a point of being more visible and student movement is being limited under this condition.
All teachers and administrators at the schools have badges which connect to the CENTEGIX system. Teachers have the ability to designate an emergency or initiate a lockdown using their badges.
Money from the governor’s school safety fund was used to upgrade the system this year.
He said the anniversary of 9/11 and a Friday 13th are contributing to his decision to extend the secure designation through the week.