The Fort Thomas Independent Schools and the Fort Thomas Police Department today issued the following joint statement:
Like every American, everyone in the Fort Thomas Independent Schools and Fort Thomas Police Department is heartbroken by the events that occurred in Parkland, Florida and in Marshall County, Kentucky.
The Fort Thomas Schools and Fort Thomas Police Department share and are fully committed to ensuring that our schools are the safest places in our community. In fact, it is our top priority: No child should have to go to school in fear. Our resolve is stronger today than ever before.
For years, the Fort Thomas Independent Schools and Fort Thomas Police Department have partnered together to ensure that our schools are safe.
Our schools regularly perform lock-down drills to ensure that our faculty, staff and students know what to do in the event of an incident. Our expectation is that school doors are locked during the day, with access to each building controlled by a school staff person who visually identifies every visitor before they are admitted to the building.
We continue to work together to identify and implement tools and strategies that will make our schools safer, minimize their appeal as potential targets, and – ultimately – keep our children safe.
In addition, we need our entire community to help us identify those who might threaten or bring harm to our students.
Every student, parent, grandparent and community member must be a part of the solution. We implore every member of our community to speak up if they suspect for any reason that anyone is contemplating such a heinous act as attacking any of our schools.
Please call the Fort Thomas Dispatch Center immediately at 859-292-3622 to report anything suspicious, whether it’s a comment or post on social media, a conversation overheard, your child’s remark at the dinner table about something another student said at school, or anything else that gives you pause. When in doubt, please call us!
Also, we have a school district anonymous tip line on our website to report any bullying or unsafe behavior. The Fort Thomas Independent Schools will work with the Fort Thomas Police Department and any other law enforcement agencies necessary to identify and investigate any threat, and we will take every legal action available to prevent anyone from acting on a threat.
In addition, we are asking any of our students, parents, staff, community members who would like to be part of a school district safety task force to please contact us at: Janine.sharp@fortthomas.kyschools.us