IT'S SAFETY FIRST AS SCHOOLS REOPEN

Kathy Strickland of Petal has never felt that her two children are in
danger while at school.

But Strickland said she is glad that the city's public school district
is taking steps - a new drug dog, upgraded security cameras and a new
school police officer - to ensure all schools are safer this year.

"The security is great," said Strickland, who has a ninth- and
seventh-grader attending Petal schools. "I think the drug dogs are a
good idea - anything they can do to make campus safer."

That, said Petal School Superintendent James Hutto, is the idea.

"In today's climate, you've got to take security and safety very
seriously," Hutto said. "That's the foundation for everything else.
Without safety, kids can't learn and teachers can't teach."

Petal is one of many Pine Belt public school districts that are
increasing security before the start of the new school year. Schools
are adding officers, security cameras and drug dogs; Hattiesburg and
Oak Grove high schools plan to fence in parts of their campuses.

Officials with Lamar County public schools say the increased focus on
security is directly related to growth in the district. In 2007, the
Lamar County school district plans to grow from 12 to 15 campuses.

Other Pine Belt school officials say they are simply trying to take a
proactive role in student safety.

"We're in a time where there are a lot of evil people out there," said
Hattiesburg Schools Superintendent Annie Wimbish.

Hattiesburg schools have several security upgrades taking effect this
fall - including random drug tests for students in extracurricular
activities and security cameras at the high school that should come
online by the end of this year.

Similar drug-testing policies are already in place at most area high
schools.

Installed years ago, the cameras at Hattiesburg High haven't been
usable because the school didn't have the infrastructure to make them
work. But thanks to a multi-million grant from technology giant Cisco
Systems Inc., the district is acquiring and coordinating software for
the cameras.

The school district is also launching a new program through the county
court system that will intervene with youths headed toward
delinquency. And the district will add a fifth officer to its police
force, said Hattiesburg Schools Police Chief Tony Davis.

Forrest County public schools are advertising for a district police
officer, said Assistant Superintendent Debbie Burt - the first time
the district has had such a position.

Lamar County recently hired a third officer for the school district's
police force, and added a drug dog this summer.

To assist in the district's fight against crime in the schools, Lamar
County schools hired former Hattiesburg police officer Steve Rosser in
August 2005 to serve as the district's police chief. Rosser, like
Davis, is responsible for overseeing the district's officers.

School police

Since August 2005, Rosser has added three new officers to the
department, each with law enforcement experience with the Hattiesburg
Police Department or the Lamar County Sheriff's Office.

That experience comes in handy - in Mississippi, school police
officers have the same duties and powers as municipal police officers,
including the ability to make arrests and to carry handguns for protection.

Yet district officers say they have many other duties besides
patrolling schools and making arrests.

In Lamar County, school police officers help enforce school rules,
respond to emergencies, patrol the grounds, work on safety planning
and do classroom presentations on crime prevention.

Davis said that while the Hattiesburg school district's police force
investigates crimes, police work is the least part of his duties in
the schools.

"It's more counseling and mentoring than anything," said Davis, who
participated in a fledgling mentoring program at Hattiesburg High over
the last school year. School police officers, he said, are required by
state law to take a 40-hour class that covers "everything and anything
you could name having to do with school safety," he said.

"They go over school laws, crisis management, being a first-line
counselor," Davis said.

District operations

With the addition of a fifth officer to the district's force, Davis
hopes to gain more oversight of districtwide operations. The bulk of
his work day is currently spent in the schools, he said, leaving
little time to coordinate with principals and other officers.

Petal School Board President Bruce McGee said the school district
police officers serve another purpose - to help students build healthy
relationships with law enforcement.

"You hate it when you hear someone make a negative comment about
police officers," he said. "We want to enforce that police officers
are positive and to be looked up to."

Rosser agrees: "The officers will serve as a resource and role model
for the students. We can possibly intervene and keep a student on a
straight path."

Wimbish has emphasized the importance of safe and orderly schools as
one of her top priorities for the district. But her district's student
body has played a role in the decision to increase security.

Over the past year alone, Wimbish said, the district had more than 700
discipline referrals, a slight increase from the previous school year.

"Many were repeat offenders - only 20 percent of our students cause
about 80 percent of the problems," she said. Discipline problems,
officials said, range from fighting to truancy to mischief.

No tolerance

In Petal, discipline referrals rose over the past year, Hutto said,
from 21 in 2004-05 to 44 in 2005-2006. Those figures, he said, pertain
to significant disciplinary problems that resulted in reassignments or
expulsion hearings.

In Lamar County, the school district had 34 discipline referrals
involving drug use and 10 referrals involving alcohol use. But
officials say it was still too many.

This school year's Lamar County student handbook contains a
notification to students and parents that drugs, alcohol and tobacco
will not be tolerated.

Rosser said plans are also in the works for every school to have signs
with that message, along with signs notifying the public that all
vehicles are subject to search.

"We're letting the parents and students know that schools are not a
place for drugs, weapons or alcohol," Rosser said.

School security is about more than police officers.

Petal recently upgraded the surveillance cameras installed in its
schools, Hutto said, and two area high schools are working on plans to
install fencing.

The Hattiesburg School District is accepting a second round of bids
for the Hattiesburg High School fence - which will determine the cost
and work dates for the project.

Plans call for a 6-foot fence around the main campus. Money for the
project comes from the district's general fund. The first bids for the
project, received last month, were too high, Wimbish said.

The campus' current open design allows easy access to intruders as
well as students, she said, and makes it hard for school officials to
monitor campus comings and goings.

Oak Grove fence

Another fence in the works will block unwanted traffic at Oak Grove
High School. The school district is currently advertising for bids.

Rosser said the fence will be 900 feet long and 5 feet high. It will
stretch along 16th Section Road and connect to the football field.
Gates will also be used to block visitors from entering the student
parking lot.

The gate will close off the parking lot; Rosser said the school
district is still awaiting bids for the project. Lamar County
Superintendent Glenn Swan said the project will be paid with district
maintenance funds.

In addition, Rosser said plans are in the works to upgrade the
surveillance systems currently in place at all the schools in Lamar
County. And this fall the Lamar County school district will have its
first drug dog.

In Petal, the city school district recently purchased a new drug dog.
In Petal, as well as in Lamar County, the dogs search for drugs and
serve as an aid in teaching children about crime prevention.

Forrest County Agricultural High School officials didn't return phone
calls seeking information.

Cameras, police officers and drug dogs notwithstanding, Hutto said
schools can only do so much to keep students safe. Once the programs,
resources and people are in place, he said, then "we pray a lot."

Oak Grove parent Jo Ellen Martin said she favors schools doing
anything and everything to prevent crime. She said, every option that
protects her ninth-grade son is welcome.

"If you have nothing to hide, why would you not want (enhanced
security) there?" she said.

For Rosser, it's a matter of ensuring all students feel safe.

"There's two places a child should feel they won't get exposed to
drugs and crime," Rosser said. "Those two places should be home and
school."