Threats, lockdowns, evacuations? Fayette school safety tracker created to report it all.

Just in the past few days, Fayette County Public Schools has seen student social media threats determined not credible; evacuations due to a faulty fire alarm sensor; and a brief lockdown after heightened neighborhood police activity and additional police at morning drop-off due to unsubstantiated threats.

On Monday, with approval from the school board at its monthly meeting, the school district introduced a new safety tracker portal on its website that will keep the public up-to-date on those kinds of safety incidents and more.

“This is an online space where you will find up-to-date information on situations impacting the safety of the school community, emergency procedures, and more,” district spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith said in a statement. “With this new tool, we hope to improve transparency and communication with our families further and assure them that Fayette County Public Schools have and will continue to be safe places to work, learn, and grow.”

The safety tracker is also linked in the header of every school website.

“Many times we want to get accurate information out but we want to get it out as quick as we can,” Fayette County Police Chief Martin Schafer told school board members at Monday’s meeting. “This is going to be a real benefit to our families.”

Since 2018, with the implementation of a 5-cent school safety tax, the district has invested more than $107 million in improving school safety including adding 83 mental health specialists, more than doubling the number of police officers and school nurses, and securing vestibules in every school, officials said.

This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 7:36 AM.