McKinney Adding Police To District's Three Middle Schools
McKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - McKinney ISD teachers, students and their parents should be heading to school with a little more re-assurance from now on. Every school will get officers.
There are now McKinney police officers inside all five MISD middle schools.
Armed officers have been in place for a while at McKinney's three high schools, but in the wake of the Connecticut school shootings, the city is expanding its security as students and teachers found out on their first day back from winter break.
McKinney Police Officer Daryl King stands out and above the 1,200 students at Cockrill Middle school.
King is armed and roaming the halls of a campus that has never had this type of security before.
He is one of five officers assigned to McKinney's middle schools following winter break and the cold reality following the massacre of 25 students and teachers in Connecticut last month.
"I'm definitely going to make an impact if something were to happen I'm on scene I'm here."
Teachers like Glynn Smith prefer the change over arming educators. "I do not think teachers should have personal protection in the classroom I'd much rather have a trained guard."
There are other new security measures implemented by the school's principal.
Visitors will undergo more questioning before they are allowed in the building and signs urge students not to open outside doors.
"Ours kids are good kids they're respectful they want to be nice polite but we want to make sure everyone is using the front door," says Cockrill Middle School Principal Melinda DeFelice.
Students are taking the changes in stride. But some, like 7th grader Dominique Patton, see it as only a short term solution to the problem.
"I think its a good first step protecting kids at the same time you have to go to the root of the problem protecting yourself won't last very long because as technology grows more advanced people will get new means of getting into schools."
The McKinney Police Department says it has the manpower to pull these officers out of patrol. Other cities that would like to do this are finding that more difficult.
