MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Schools held a news conference to answer safety concern, but one local leader was noticeably absent: Superintendent Dorsey Hopson.
Officials said their policies work and your kids are safe, but School Board members and parents don’t agree.
The men in charge of student safety and intervention in Shelby County School said despite perception and the prevalence of videos, violence in schools was actually down.
“We definitely know the numbers are going down because we look at the numbers every week,” the head of student security Ronald Pope explained.
He said school is the safest place your kid can be and added, “There are more predators on the street believe me.”
But School Board member Stephanie Love didn’t agree.
“As a parent, I can’t say I’m not 100% satisfied. Because the kids are afraid to go to school and parents are afraid to send their kids to school,” she explained.
That’s because in the videos capturing the fights in the schools, you don’t see teachers or officers trying to break the fights up.
Something the district said must change.
“Teachers can use a reasonable amount of force to break up a fight,” Roderick Richmond explained.
“We can’t have another school year start the way the school year is ending,” added Love.
Policy makers promised we would see changes before the start of the next school year.