By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

It's likely that Fayette County high school students will be carrying their books in their arms when school starts in August, and all students in the district will be required to comply with a stricter dress code.

These are just two of the ideas being discussed by parents, teachers, school administrators and law enforcement officials serving on the Fayette County School District's Safety Task Force.

The group, headed by Wayne Robinson, director of secondary school services, had its initial meeting Thursday evening and broke out into four groups, the most popular being the one discussing discipline and dress codes. “You're probably not going to see book bags in the building... starting with the high schools,” predicted Stuart Bennett, former principal of McIntosh High School and now assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

More lockers at the high schools will allow students to stash their books between classes and also keep hall traffic moving, Bennett said. “Before we had too many students and too few lockers,” he explained.

Instituting a uniform dress code, where the mode of dress is the same in all schools in the county, also was discussed. One of the first changes expected is a regulation outlawing sleeveless shirts on girls and boys. Parents complained that each school interprets the school dress code differently with levels of compliance varying as well.

The final recommendations coming from the group included a uniform dress code that would be stricter than the current code in place, resource officers (policemen) at all middle and high schools, and involvement of students in the dress code revision process. They also encouraged ordering psychological evaluations on students who make violent threats.

The small group discussing prevention strategies came out in support of a structured school environment where students would understand and abide by the rules in place and learn, along with their teachers, how to resolve conflicts before they reache the crisis stage.

The “emergency procedures and crisis plan” group focused on fine-tuning the emergency preparedness already in place and developing a flip-chart for all schools, which would be organized to give quick information to staff when an emergency occurs.

The members of local law enforcement agencies and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency focused on who is in charge and who is supporting whom when an emergency situation arises at a school in the county or in a municipality. Videotaped layouts of each school were proposed, along with providing law enforcement teams with blueprints of the schools.

Mike Satterfield, facilities manager for the schools, said adding security systems to the school buildings, more monitoring cameras on buses and additional lights on the outsides of the school buildings are things his department is reviewing.

Robinson encouraged students and parents to come to the next meeting of the safety task force, which is scheduled for Thursday, July 15. “We need your help and input to guide us,” Robinson said.