‘Not just brushing this aside’: Rock Hill Schools’ safety measures led to gun seizures
After two guns were found at separate Rock Hill schools on consecutive days, the Rock Hill School District quickly implemented safety measures, including random searches, and encouraged parents and students to speak up about any suspicious activity.
And as a result, a third gun was found Wednesday at Rock Hill High School.
“We see that our community really stepped up to the plate in this instance,” district spokesperson Lindsay Machak said. “We just want to continue to move with that momentum throughout the rest of our school year.”
All three guns were found, and no one was hurt in either incident, due to the district’s safety measures and training, Machak said.
On Monday, a gun was found in a student’s backpack at South Pointe High School after a school resource officer watched video surveillance footage, according to the Rock Hill Police Department. On Tuesday, another was found at Dutchman Creek Middle School after it fell out a student’s pants during an altercation, police said.
And on Wednesday, a gun was found in a vehicle that the York County Sheriff’s Office believes belonged to a student.
“The incident at South Pointe on Monday was a result of a proactive measure,” Machak said. “The incident (Wednesday) was the result of a proactive measure. The way that the incident went down on Tuesday at Dutchman Creek is because it was handled appropriately. It didn’t escalate into something further because our team knew how to react to that.”
Although the district’s security practices worked as intended, Machak said the district’s administrators are concerned, and they’ll continue to monitor and implement necessary security practices.
“We’re not just brushing this aside and moving on,” she said. “It is something that we are continually thinking about. It is something that worries us. It is something that’s concerning and we’re taking it very seriously.”
Guns seized as result of tips
Superintendent Tommy Schmolze, in a statement, encouraged parents Tuesday evening to keep an eye on their child’s social media activity and talk with them about the importance of notifying school officials about possible suspicious activity on campus.
In turn, the district received more tips than usual on Wednesday, Machak said.
“Usually, we might get one, maybe two a week at that, but (Wednesday) we received five to our tip line as well as verbal tips to administrators and teachers,” she said.
And that’s how the district found the third gun, Machak said.
“We investigated every single tip and as a result of that, we did find a firearm in a car at Rock Hill High School,” she said. “We had tips that ranged from bullying to drug usage to this firearm in a car, but we also had parents sending in tips with screenshots of things that they saw on their kids’ social media.”
The RAND Corporation, a global policy research group, outlined in its recent recommendations on preventing mass attacks that public reporting is the backbone of detecting plots. The group reported that almost two-thirds of foiled plots were due to public reporting.
Increased classroom searches
Schmolze, in his statement, also said the district would, in response to the week’s gun seizures, conduct more safety screenings.
“Do not be surprised if your student comes home to tell you they were screened,” he said.
And on Wednesday morning, the district started conducting searches, in collaboration with its safety and security team, the sheriff’s office and Rock Hill police, at its three high schools and five middle schools. Throughout the day, the district screened 40 classes, which were randomly chosen by a computer program, Machak said.
“We go to that classroom, ask all the students to leave their belongings at their desk and they come out into the hallway,” she said. “We then have our law enforcement partners and our administrators go into that classroom and screen all of the backpacks, purses, desks, anything that might be there and see if there’s anything that shouldn’t be there.”
During those searches, which the district has implemented over the years, administrators look for more than just firearms, Machak said.
“It’s for all contraband, so anything that shouldn’t be there that is found during that time will be addressed on the spot,” she said.
While the district may continue the searches throughout the year, Machak said it’s important that students and parents continue to speak up and play a role in stopping any potential dangers.
“We’re being as honest as we can be and trying to address the situation in the best way we know how, but we cannot do it alone,” she said. “We need every teacher, administrator, parent, community member to be involved in this effort.”
Additional safety measures
At the district’s back-to-school forum last month, Director of Safety and Security Andrew Jones acknowledged that administrators were aware of parents’ heightened security concerns after a rise in nationwide school shootings. He said his team worked throughout the summer to implement numerous measures that would ease some of those concerns — and several were utilized this week.
“We want to be the most prepared district that never has to experience a significant incident like that,” he said.
The district adopted the standard response protocol from the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, a national group focused on school safety. The foundation helps schools operate in emergency situations as quick as possible, Jones said. All districts in York, Lancaster and Chester counties adopted the same protocol, Jones said.
In addition to the district’s camera and door-monitoring systems, there’s an armed and trained security member stationed in each of the district’s 24 schools (and at some, there’s more than one), to keep students and teachers safe, Machak said. The district also has its tip line, which can be anonymous, on its website.
“The biggest takeaway from the turn of events over the last few days is that it’s a real issue in our community, in schools across the county, in our state and in our nation that’s facing students every single day,” Machak said. “This is not something that we take lightly.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 7:51 AM.
