MARSHALL COUNTY, Ky. (WHAS11) — No backpacks, extra school resource officers, and metal detectors.
Those are some of the security changes students will notice as they walk into Marshall County High School for the first day of school on Thursday.
A shooting at the school in January by one of their own classmates left two students dead.
WHAS11’s Juliana Valencia used to work in Western Kentucky and covered the shooting. She went back to Marshall County to show how the community continues to be Marshall Strong.
In 11 years as superintendent for Marshall County Schools, Trent Lovett says this has been his busiest summer.
“We do want to make sure our school is as hard as a target as possible for any event like that to not happen again.”
Lovett says students approached him about safety changes right away after the shooting that took the lives of Bailey Holt and Preston Cope.
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By the end of the year, Lovett says he and his teachers were physically and mentally drained.
“You’re asking teachers to teach all day after they’ve been through bag searches and metal detector wanding.”
Now, there will be no more book bags in these halls and students can expect to see more school resource officers. Other renovations are underway as well – including reinforcing all 86 doors in the school.
“Our priority as faculty is to love our kids and we do that every day.” Marshall County’s Principal Patricia Greer says she thinks in times of trauma, you don’t see change – but who people truly are.
“This is truly Marshall County. They are truly a supporter of their schools. They are truly a support of their community,” Greer said.
Juniors Gage Smock and Devon Evans will see these metal detectors when they walk into school this year at Marshall County High.
“I feel a lot safer with all the stuff they’re doing,” Gage said.
Gage and Devon – who have wounds of their own – are excited for a new year but won’t forget the classmates they lost.
“The hardest thing about it is going to be knowing those two should be here starting the school year with us. That’s the thing that bothers me the most. Other than that, I think I’ll be okay.”