Locked Doors, Restricted Access At Cobb Elementary, Middle Schools

The Cobb County School District has tightened security at its facilities, implementing a new system to try to prevent any strangers from entering elementary or middle school buildings.

According to The Marietta Daily Journal, the doors at all county elementary and middle schools will now be locked at all times. The only way non-school personnel or students can enter the building is through a monitored intercom and video camera system. A staff member at the front desk can press a button to unlock the doors to allow a parent or other authorized adult to enter.

Jay Dillon, the school district’s director of communications, told the MDJ that the system was installed in 93 schools and cost $279,000.

An additional change is the hiring of 11 new campus police officers. The new personnel will allow the school district to post an officer at every middle and high school. Each of the 52 campus police officers should be equipped with a patrol car by Sept. 1. The hiring of the new officers cost $402,000, while the additional patrol cars was a $1.1 million expense.

Most incidents involving a campus police officer involve students fighting, possessing drugs on school grounds, or trying to skip school.