School safety investigation: Jefferson City, Tuscumbia and Clarksburg districts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

ABC 17 News asked for 41 Mid-Missouri school districts' security plans, maintenance records and expenses ahead of the 2022-2023 school year.

Among them is the Jefferson City School District. The district had 8,752 students enrolled last school year attending classes in more than 15 school buildings.

The Jefferson City School District did not provide its maintenance records for door and lock repairs, security expenses, or lockdown policy, citing exemptions to open records laws. However, the district did provide its emergency drill policy.

Here are drill procedures for weapons possession and armed intruders:

• There will be two armed intruder drills per school year.
• Teachers and students will lock and barricade classroom doors.
• If the intruder can be contained to one section of the school, students and staff will evacuate.
• There will be a designated safe area off-campus.

The district's general policy for emergency drills says its emergency plans will have information on communicating with parents and instructions on how parents can locate their children in an emergency.

The district also reported zero lockdowns during the 2021-22 school year, one lockout and one threat alert.

Miller County R-III

The Miller County R-III district in Tuscumbia has around 200 students and also did not provide ABC 17 News with maintenance records or its lockdown policy, citing open records law exemptions.

It did provide its security expenses within the last school year.

The largest security purchases were made in September 2021 -- new cafeteria doors for $7,765 and new elementary entry doors for $9,967. Other security purchases included card readers, communication radios, card reader repairs, door lock repairs and door service calls.

Clarksburg C-II

Clarksburg C-II did not provide maintenance records or its lockdown policy, also citing open records exemptions, but it did provide recent security upgrades. The district said in June that it completed the following upgrades for $7,090.25:

• Replaced glass front doors with steel reinforced doors.
• Added auto locking system.
• Upgraded card reader system.

The district also said all doors are locked throughout the school day except for the main entrance and they practice active shooter drills throughout the school year.

ABC 17 received security documents and responses from more than 15 school districts and will release the details on more districts' safety plans every day this week.