Rock Hill high schools prepare for security upgrades

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Last week, Rock Hill Schools announced random weapons screenings at high schools after two guns were found on campus at Northwestern High School this school year. Two weapons were found at South Pointe High School.

That effort is part of a much larger plan to improve school safety at high schools in Rock Hill. That is a big security challenge at older campuses.

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Northwestern High School opened in 1971 and Rock Hill High School moved to its current campus in 1976. The schools have similar designs, which were not focused on security at the time of construction.

The way visitors have entered Northwestern and Rock Hill high schools since the 1970s will be different in the next few weeks because security is now the focus.

Kelly Sumwalt had three children graduate from Northwestern and has a daughter still attending the school.

She wants quick action after the discovery of guns on campus.

"That's when it got really scary and made us think, ‘Well, OK. It's time for some serious change,’" Sumwalt said.

The Rock Hill Schools district already had changes in the works following the passage of a $110 million bond issued in 2015. It already included funding to move the main school office at Northwestern to the front of campus and install a fence directing all visitors through that office.

A much larger fence will stretch across the front of Rock Hill High School. Visitors will have to go to the main office at the school, as well.

"I think they're doing all they can with the buildings they have," Sumwalt said.

She worked with school officials to form a safety group at Northwestern after guns were found on campus.

Sumwalt wants the group to take a particular step to enhance school safety.

"I think we can make everyone enter through one entrance, then we need to have metal detectors at that point," she said.

Most school districts statewide have looked unfavorably on that idea because of the cost and the feeling that it would make schools feel more like prisons, officials said.

South Pointe High School, which opened 11 years ago is one building with one main entrance.

Rock Hill's two older high schools have multiple buildings, which prompts a security challenge.

Some of that challenge falls on school resource officers.

Rock Hill police Sgt. Michael Johnson runs the city's SRO program.

"I believe there's more pressure than ever on school resource officers," Johnson said. That's because they aren't only there looking for weapons. Resource officers often break up fights, offer counseling, act as mentors and build relationships with students.

Johnson said the guns found at Northwestern and South Pointe this year were all reported by students. That's a huge key to keeping campuses safe, officials said.

"It's that trust and those relationships that is the foundation really,” Johnson said. “Without that trust, your security would really be hurting."

Schools across Rock Hill have added more cameras and alarm systems, increased screening of visitors and taken part in more training with police and on-campus drills.

The school district is also relaunching the See Something, Do Something campaign, which encourages students to speak up if they see or hear of anything suspicious.

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