Safety top of mind as school year begins

PINCH, W.Va. – It’s back to school for students in Kanawha County Friday morning. After two and a half months of sleeping in, relaxing by the pool and vacations, it’s time to get down to the business of learning.

Thursday, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department along with the county commission, Kanawha County Ambulance Authority and the school system held a joint news conference at Pinch Elementary giving folks the heads up about school safety.

Lt. Sean Crosier with the Sheriff’s Department said deputies will be out in full force Friday morning as those school buses start to roll. He said sometimes students forget the rules of the road but adults can’t.

“[The kids] may not just have their heads on straight the first day or two, so we want to make sure we, as adults, do everything we can to help ensure their safety,” stressed Crosier.

That means watching for that red stop sign when buses slow down to pick up or drop off students and obeying the speed limit in school zones.

Crosier said the department will also have a visible presence inside the schools.

“We visit various schools each day of the school year randomly, sometimes with marked cars, sometimes with unmarked cars,” explained Crosier. “So a would-be perpetrator is not going to know when we’re going to be there and exactly which school we’re going to be attending.”

Pinch Elementary second grade teacher Karen Messinger said the added police presence has really changed the relationship between officers and kids.

“We see smiles on the officer’s faces and the kids know them and it just builds relationships,” she said.

That means when there’s a problem students aren’t afraid to go to that officer and talk about what’s bothering them whether it’s happening in school or at home.

Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy stressed to families the county is doing everything possible to create the safest atmosphere possible in all the schools.

“We want to make sure that every one of our elementary schools, our middle schools and our high schools have the protection and security they need and we do it in a proactive way,” according to Hardy.

School got underway in Cabell and Wayne counties Thursday. But Kanawha is the first school scheduled to let out next spring on May 16, depending on the amount of snow days.