Forsyth County Schools is home to 42 schools and teaches almost 55,000 students, thriving with new ideas, new people and new accomplishments everyday. Forsyth County Schools boasts many educational, athletic and social accomplishments, showing off the highest ranking school for SAT and ACT scores, graduation rate and national programs for students and staff.
While these accomplishments are crucial to the county’s reputation as one of the most highly ranked counties in Georgia, the administration on the local and state level have another goal in mind: keeping their students safe no matter what. In recent times, this issue has expanded as anxiety and mental health issues with youth have increased, and school shootings are becoming increasingly common throughout the country. While the community grieves from the shooting in Apalachee High School, Forsyth County Superintendent Mitch Young is tirelessly working with local law enforcement and staff on the state and federal level to ensure safety is always the first priority.
“What I’ve tried to share with people is that for Sheriff [Ron H.] Freeman and me, for our safety and security team, for our principals, it is always at the forefront of our mind,” Young emphasized.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office and Forsyth County Schools have a strong partnership that has expanded through the addition of more School Resource Officers (SROs) at every school in Forsyth County after the shooting at Apalachee High School. SROs are officers who work at schools full-time and work with students and staff to protect everyone on the premises.
“So we have SROs who are fully armed and are there to really get to know the students and to build relationships,” Young added. “And because of that, they’re really able to head a lot of things off ahead of time.”
Having these SROs helps schools prevent shootings or other safety concerns ahead of time. However, if an incident were to happen, the county and the police are ready to take action.
Local law enforcement has been extra careful to ensure that they have maximum efficiency in getting to any possible incident. School SROs are increasingly mindful of staying near or on school premises at all times.
With the backing of county law enforcement and an increased emphasis on safety at a district level, the administration has been looking into safety measures that could be implemented at a more individualized level.
“We’re constantly studying and following up on the research and seeing what actually works versus what are some things that a lot of schools will do to give the appearance that they’re doing something…we don’t want to do that,” Young shared.
For example, metal detectors are not being considered at Lambert or other schools in Forsyth County at the moment due to them possibly crowding the entrances which could create a more risky environment. Clear backpacks for students are also being heavily opposed at the Forsyth County office due to students not being able to use them for athletics or extracurricular activities, making them practically ineffective.
While these other methods remain a possibility for the future, Young also believes the current safety measures implemented in Forsyth County are making a difference.
“Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make the biggest difference,” Young explained. “Teachers always keep their door locked, but they can use that little magnet to keep it so it opens back and forth and that as soon as a lockdown alarm goes off, you can peel that magnet and close the door.”
These underrated measures such as magnets or safety instruction manuals on roll-down shades are helpful in many ways, like helping out if there was a substitute teacher or if an adult wasn’t in the room.
Forsyth County and other Georgia counties are exploring a new high-tech gadget used in Barrow County that could potentially prevent increased casualties. A small button for emergencies located on each teacher’s badge was credited with helping local law enforcement respond to the situation quickly. While Forsyth County is still considering the specifics of using this technology, Young and his staff have been discussing its drawbacks and making sure it fits Forsyth County’s specific needs.
“One thing that we don’t want to do is get a technology that is so easy to push the button that you end up with false lockdowns,” Young cautioned.
Although new technology can be helpful and innovative, staff are crucial to the success of any measures or policies and the safety of students. As someone who’s worked in many different positions throughout his career, Young knows how important the roles of teachers and administrators are at Lambert and in Forsyth County in matters concerning the safety of the community.
“Proactively, I would tell every teacher and custodian and cafeteria worker and paraprofessional counselor and you name it, everybody’s got to participate,” Young stated. “I think what you find is above and beyond any technology device you have, it’s the human factor that saves lives at school.”
Lambert staff is ready to do all that they can to bring that “human factor” to Longhorns, especially as the people who interact the most with students and understand Lambert day-to-day life.
Students were heavily involved in recovering from the shooting at Apalachee high school.
On September 20, 2024, Longhorns carried out a walkout meant to express students’ thoughts and grieve the Apalachee shooting.
The walkout was approved at the school level and took place during Advisement as not to disturb classes.
“I think it comes down to the relationship that a principal has, or the school leadership has, with the students,” Young said. “If you’ve got a quality relationship with your students as a principal, you recognize when things are being done just for the sake of getting out of class, versus you’ve got a group of service- minded students that really want to have an open conversation about it.”
Young thinks that the walkout was very well-managed and handled at Lambert. Having such a successful partnership with school leadership and students helped the walkout be carried out well and gave the students a voice.
Another way that students were able to help out was through social media, which is often a double-edged sword during times of uncertainty. In the aftermath of a school shooting, social media can be villainized for spreading misinformation or threats but also applauded for helping spread awareness about the situation.
After the Apalachee High School shooting, unsubstantiated threats circulated around Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok, leading to more fear and uncertainty around the district. However, due to the cooperation of students turning these threats, the threats were shut down quickly. Schools around the country are concerned over what role social media plays in the lives of students, especially with a complex situation such as school shootings.
“It is a wonderful way to disseminate information in a rapid way,” Young said. “Unfortunately, when it’s false information or misinformation, it gets distributed in a very quick way, and more often than not, causes unnecessary panic.”
While Young and other administrators agree that social media and cellphones are needed at school for high schoolers who have extracurricular activities or stay after school, Young has expressed his concern about the impact it is having on tensions inside and outside school.
“They use [social media] to divide us, not unite us,” Young vocalized.
As the district navigates through safety issues and keeping kids safe, parents are becoming increasingly involved in helping the community.
Parents are an essential part of the Forsyth County community and interact with the school frequently through meetings, Parent Student Teacher Organization (PTSO), or volunteering. Young and other administrators want to ensure that parents feel heard and safe in sending their children to school everyday by adding more opportunities for interaction.
“And so I would encourage their attendance at local school council meetings to kind of get the inside scoop as to what’s going on,” Young said. “And I start with that, because when you hear from the principal, that’s when you get the accurate information.”
In terms of involvement, accurate information is key for parents, students and staff. Young views ensuring safety as a “three-way-street” with the school system, the sheriff’s department and families. While the county is still battling school shootings as an issue, Young reminds families to lean on this partnership for reassurance.
“We can guarantee you that we do more than any school system out there to proactively provide a safe environment for our students and our staff to go to work everyday,” Young emphasized.
For students to share their concerns, Young advocates for students to fill out the anonymous Georgia Annual Health Survey. The survey touches on topics that concern students on matters from substance abuse to school stress. This survey is only administered to sixth to twelfth graders, but mental and physical safety measures for students at Forsyth County are in the spotlight for all ages.
“At Forsyth County Schools, when we talk about safety we’re talking about physical and psychological safety and from kindergarten all the way through, we are trying to work to help foster resiliency and help kids to persevere,…” Young added.
School safety is an important issue, and Forsyth County School Systems is dedicated to emphasizing it throughout the county. There are many factors that play into balancing school safety such as technology, staff, parents and students. Moving forward, these factors will play an important role in the district’s constant work to make the county a safer place.
