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Superintendent discusses school safety; site on Pumphouse Road rezoned at council meeting

by

Lexi Coon.

Recent events — including the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida that resulted in the death of 17 students — have prompted many school systems to review their safety strategies to provide the utmost security to students, administration and faculty. Superintendent Dicky Barlow spoke to Mountain Brook City Council during its regular meeting on Feb. 26 about how Mountain Brook Schools is protecting its students and faculty.

Barlow stated that MBS is always working to improve each school’s safety measures and has been doing so for many years. After the shooting that occurred in Sandy Hook Elementary, the city hired an additional Student Resource Officer (SRO). An SRO is an armed police officer who is specifically trained to work in a school setting, Cok said Cook.

Police Chief Ted Cook said this decision was made after discussion between the city and the school system, and the city requested that only one be added at that time.

MBS has two SROs and Barlow said they would like to increase that number and have an SRO at every school.

“I don’t like to say that,” he said. “You don’t want to go into this saying we need an armed police guard at every school.” That step, he said, is in the interest of safety for all students and personnel of MBS.

This addition was only very recently discussed between Barlow and Cook and there is no set date for the additional SROs to be hired, Barlow said. In the meantime, both agreed to have increased random police presence at the schools — including stopping at the schools when on patrol and walking through the halls — which is something the police department has been doing.

MBS has also made adjustments to door locks on the outside of facilities, is implementing a card reader for personnel access to the schools and is trying to “retrain” students to make people check in at the front office instead of opening a door to let them in. 

Barlow and other school personnel are also updating training and procedures for staff and students, he said. After analyzing historical events, they evaluate their practices and adjust them as needed to maintain a safe environment for students and faculty, Barlow said. 

“There are some things we are in the process of changing based on what has happened in Florida now,” he said. 

And during all of this, Barlow said the school system is working to create a “healthy culture” for its students. 

“You can cram safety down your students’ throats all the time until they don’t feel safe anymore,” he said. “If that’s all you talk about, it creates fear, and so we have to have a healthy balance of what we talk about.”

To avoid creating a sense of fear, Mountain Brook students have been brought in on the process of creating a secure learning environment, Barlow said. “Because if they’re not [part of the process], it can create a culture of fear rather than a culture of safety,” he said.

Council members thanked Barlow, the police department and Board of Education members for working toward safer schools and expressed appreciation for their work addressing possible concerns.

Shortly after hearing from Barlow, council members opened a public hearing regarding an ordinance rezoning parcels of land in both Mountain Brook and Jefferson County along Pumphouse Road. The proposed land, which is where Wales Goebel Ministry sits, would be rezoned from residential to a planned unit development, or PUD, for professional and business offices. 

Rezoning for this area was initially discussed in fall 2017 when the original plan was to build a 9,000 square foot development with potential retail, office and doctors spaces. The Planning Commission recommended that City Council deny the project and the plans were later withdrawn.

Now that the area is under new ownership, a request for rezoning was again presented.

The Wales Goebel building has been used as an office space since 1974, said the new owner of the site, Russell Pate. He and co-owner Porter Mason aren’t looking to change that, Pate added.

“So for 44 years, it has been an office. And we want to keep it an office,” he said. While minor renovations will be done, the footprint and height of the building will remain the same, as will the parking lot and the landscaping. Pate said there is no “ulterior motive” to purchasing the land and having it rezoned.

Two city residents, Sue Watkins and Louise Wright, spoke in opposition of the rezoning, stating that it may create a “domino effect” for future development of the area that could negatively impact already difficult traffic.

While councilwoman Alice Womack recused herself from a vote, council members voted to approve the rezoning of the property. A 1.7 acre portion of the property that was in unincorporated Jefferson County, was also annexed into Mountain Brook as part of rezoning so the city may have the final say on determining what may happen with it should it later change hands.

Also during the council meeting, members:

The next council meeting will be on March 12 at 7 p.m.

Editor's note: This article was updated at 8:15 a.m. to correct the original statement that MBS employs four SROs. The city actually employs two SROs for the school system.

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