Collier schools start Wednesday, new security measures in place

Reporter: Lindsey Sablan
Published:

Collier County students head back to class Wednesday and the district is adding extra security measures to kick off the school year.

“My expectations of keeping him safe are – I mean they’re pretty high,” said Ashley Pendelton, one Collier County mom.

District Spokesperson Greg Turchetta says they spent the entire summer discussing all types of security.

The newest addition is a security camera system.

Just like in Lee and Charlotte schools, you must show photo identification outside the front door before you can get into any of Collier’s 50 public schools.

The system cost half a million dollars and the installation was fairly simple.

“We deal with parents, vendors, community members, volunteers in so many different ways is trying to make sure it’s efficient. The last thing we want is any line outside the front door in the Florida heat waiting for people to get in.”

The district will require every high school student to wear a badge so they can identify people who don’t belong on campus.

“You look at everything because at the end of the day, these schools have to be as safe as they can be or we can’t we do our job, which is to educate children.”

And school officials want parents to talk to their kids about making jokes and comments regarding school threats of any kind.

Turchetta says that we live in a world where those jokes can’t exist and the district is now prepared to treat any threat, made verbally or on social media, with the ultimate severity.

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