Doubling Down on School Safety (View Video Here)

August 11, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Doubling down on school safety!

The DeKalb County School District, in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, have been exercising safety protocols in recent days at the schools to help guard against any possibly future outside threat.

It’s called “Intruder drills” and it is something the state requires local districts to conduct at least once a year. Such drills were conducted Thursday at Smithville Elementary and Northside Elementary School. Similar drills were held Tuesday at DCHS and DeKalb Middle School. Another drill will be next week at DeKalb West School.

According to Joey Reeder, safety director for the DeKalb County School District, the school conducting the “intruder drill” is locked down and local law enforcement officers are called upon to make a walkthrough of the school to make sure all doors are locked. That means greater fortification of schools to make it more difficult for an intruder to enter them. Participating in the drill were members of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Smithville Police Department, and Emergency Management Agency. The Alexandria Police Department is expected to participate with the sheriff’s department at DeKalb West School.

“The new state law says we are to conduct intruder drills at every school but it’s been that way for a few years now,” said Reeder. “In the past we have always done it prior to school starting without students being here but with the Covenant shooting in Nashville and all that’s gone on we felt like, after consulting with our law enforcement people, that maybe it was time we did it with students in the building. Later on, our plan is to maybe do an unannounced drill, where we lock everything down and have law enforcement come in but in a case like that you have to be really careful especially when you’re dealing with smaller kids because you can cause them to become anxious and scared when they really don’t know what’s going on. In the world we are living in today, you never know what could happen so we are doing the best we can to be prepared,” said Reeder.

“Basically, an intruder drill is where our entire school building is locked down and wherever you are at you get in the closest room,” Reeder explained. “If it happens between class changes or lunches, that’s things we’ll have to work on, but if it happens during a normal school day when kids are in class, we lock the doors, get the kids away from the windows and doors, and try to be as quiet as we can. Our teachers have done a tremendous job this week. We have had very few problems. It’s sad we are at this place in the world that we have to keep our doors locked at all times but it’s a new state law that all exterior doors have to be locked and we are encouraging our teachers to keep the interior doors locked also. It causes some aggravation but its another layer of safety. That’s what we are about is trying to keep as many kids, faculty, and staff as safe as we can.”

The intruder drills serve a twofold purpose, according to Reeder, by putting into practice the school safety protocols and by making local law enforcement officers more familiar with the layout of the schools and they are welcome to stop in anytime.

“Our feeling on these drills is that not only does it help our schools but it’s a great deal of help to our law enforcement. Anytime we can get law enforcement in our buildings, walking around we believe that is a good thing and they are more than welcome to come. I don’t care what department they are with, Smithville, Alexandria, Sheriff’s Department, they are welcome in any of our buildings at any time,” said Reeder. “We have a lot of officers who just stop and walk through the building, and we appreciate that. Anytime you go by and see a police car outside a school, we believe it serves as somewhat of a deterrent. Fortunately for years we have always had a tremendous relationship with all the law enforcement agencies, and you can tell that by the crowd of them we had here today,” Reeder continued.

“We did drills at the high school and middle school on Tuesday, and it was amazing to see how many of those officers had children of their own in that school at the time. Most of them have a vested interest with a kid somewhere in school in DeKalb County and anything we want them to do they are always willing to do it. They take a lot of pride in their service and our schools, and we certainly appreciate them for that,” added Reeder.

August 10, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Fewer students are enrolled in the DeKalb County School System than this time last year.

Comparing the numbers for the first full week of school, total enrollment from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade district wide was 2,988 as of Thursday (August 10) down by 19 students from 3,007 last year.

More than a decade ago in August 2013, DeKalb County’s student enrollment district-wide was 3,052 or 64 more than today.

According to Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder, the numbers for this month are down from last year in August by 43 students at DeKalb County High School and by 31 students at Smithville Elementary but the count is up by 28 at DeKalb Middle School, 15 at Northside Elementary, and by 13 at DeKalb West School.
Currently, the largest class by grade district-wide is the fifth grade with 248 students. The smallest class district-wide other than the pre-K classes is twelfth grade at 195 students.

As of Thursday, August 10 enrollment at each school was as follows compared to last year:

DCHS: 814 (down by 43 students) * In August 2013 DCHS enrollment was 834.

DeKalb Middle School: 572 (up by 28 students) *In August 2013, DMS enrollment stood at 592.

Northside Elementary: 592 (up by 15 students) *In August 2013, the Northside enrollment was 591.

Smithville Elementary: 550 (down by 31 students) * In August 2013, the Smithville Elementary enrollment was 621.

DeKalb West School: 460 (up by 13 students) *In August 2013, the DWS enrollment stood at 414.

The following is the current enrollment by grade system-wide:

Pre-K: Smithville Elementary-85 (up by 13)

Pre-K: DeKalb West-15 (down by 5)

Kindergarten: 214 (down by 2)

First Grade: 218 (down by 18)

Second Grade: 230 (down by 23)

Third Grade: 247 (up by 22)

Fourth Grade: 211 (down by 31)

Fifth Grade: 248 (up by 27)

Sixth Grade: 231(down by 1)

Seventh Grade: 237 (up by 8)

Eighth Grade: 238 (up by 35)

Ninth Grade: 211 (down by 15)

Tenth Grade: 206 (up by 1)

Eleventh Grade: 202 (down by 20)

Twelfth Grade: 195 (down by 10)

TOTAL ENROLLMENT DISTRICT-WIDE: 2,988 (down by 19)

The enrollment by school breaks down as follows:

Smithville Elementary: Pre-K 85, Kindergarten-167, First grade-166, and Second grade-132: Total 550

Northside Elementary: Second grade-39, Third grade-197, Fourth grade-166, Fifth grade-190: Total 592

DeKalb West School: Pre-K 15, Kindergarten-47, First grade-52, Second grade-59, Third grade-50, Fourth grade 45, Fifth grade-58, Sixth grade-43, Seventh grade-50, and Eighth grade 41: Total 460.

DeKalb Middle School: Sixth grade-188, Seventh grade-187, Eighth grade-197: Total 572

DeKalb County High School: Ninth grade-211. Tenth grade-206, Eleventh grade-202, and Twelfth grade-195: Total 814

Reeder also provided numbers on how the enrollment has been trending over the last 10 years district wide.

Year 2014: 3,005 students

2015: 3,015 students (up by 10 students)

2016: 2,950 students (down by 65 students)

2017: 3,039 students (up by 89 students)

2018: 2,993 students (down by 46 students)

2019: 2,999 students (up by 6 students)

2020: 2,881 students (down by 118 students)

2021: 3,044 students (up by 163 students)

2022: 3,007 students (down by 37 students)

2023: 2,988 students (down by 19 students)

Enrollment numbers at each school from 2014-2023:

Smithville Elementary: Year 2014-609; Year 2015-569; Year 2016-540; Year 2017-578; Year 2018-556; Year 2019-561; Year 2020-552; Year 2021-574; Year 2022-581; Year 2023-550

Northside Elementary: Year 2014-623; Year 2015-658; Year 2016-640; Year 2017-639; Year 2018-603; Year 2019-594; Year 2020-552; Year 2021-578; Year 2022-577; Year 2023-592

DeKalb West School: Year 2014-389; Year 2015-382; Year 2016-376; Year 2017-409; Year 2018-389; Year 2019-397; Year 2020-384; Year 2021-425; Year 2022-447; Year 2023-460

DeKalb Middle School: Year 2014-554; Year 2015-536; Year 2016-521; Year 2017-546; Year 2018-572; Year 2019-607; Year 2020-579; Year 2021-577; Year 2022-544; Year 2023-572

DeKalb County High School: Year 2014-830; Year 2015-867; Year 2016-864; Year 2017-867; Year 2018-873; Year 2019-840; Year 2020-832; Year 2021-890; Year 2022-857; Year 2023-814

August 9, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Out of order!

Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins has announced that the 25 mile per hour flashing lights over Highway 70 in the school zone at DCHS and DeKalb Middle School are temporarily out of order and for the next few days will not be operating at the beginning and end of the school day.

Chief Collins admonishes motorists to continue obeying the 25 mile per hour speed limit in that school zone at the beginning and end of each school day just as if the lights were working. Of course, a constable will continue working there each day directing traffic through the school zone.

Motorists are cautioned to be careful around school busses that are stopping to let children on or off the bus.

Tennessee Law 55-8-151 states that drivers on a roadway overtaking a school bus from any direction must stop when the school bus stops with the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children.

This applies to all roadways aside from “separate roadways” that are divided by a barrier, raised median or an unpaved space of five feet or more where pedestrians are not permitted to cross.

Drivers passing in the opposite direction on a separate roadway of a school bus that has stopped for school children to enter or exit should still proceed with caution.

Failure to stop upon approaching a school bus that is stopped is a Class A misdemeanor. Drivers who don’t stop may receive a fine ranging from $250 to $1000.

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