KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After a gun threat scare last week, parents like Ashley Gilmer are pleading Knox County Schools to add more safety and security measures at West High School.
In April 2023, a gun went off and grazed a teacher. In September 2023, three minors were charged after KPD found a "credible threat" of a gun on West's campus. Most recently, a student was detained after he was accused of bringing a gun to the school.
"That's three times of a warning signal for us to, kind of, wake up and figure out some things that need to change, specifically with our school, in order to keep our kids safe," Gilmer said.
Gilmer and another West High School parent, Bo Hamilton, said questions and concerns have been answered on the school level by its principal, Dr. Ashley Speas.
They say they haven't been able to get a meeting with any higher-ups in the district.
"We've really just hit a brick wall," Hamilton said. "The superintendent stands by the fact that he doesn't want to institutionalize the schools. And I do understand that as a parent. But then again, you can't go to a basketball game, a football game, you can't go to the airport, you can't go to a government building without going through metal detectors. So why should the safety of our kids be any different?"
Gilmer said she's reached out to Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, school board members, and the superintendent. She only received responses from the principal and Board Member Katherine Bike.
"What's frustrating is this all has to come from the board level and above to make changes," Gilmer said. "This is not anything that the school administration can change to keep their teachers, their students, themselves safe. It just feels like we're not being heard."
WBIR reached out to KCS with questions about safety measures like metal detectors, clear backpacks and investigations on guns brought to West High School. Dr. Jon Rysewyk responded with a statement, available below.
Keeping students safe often means walking a fine line between maintaining a secure environment and creating a feeling of institutionalizing in our schools.
After incidents involving a weapon, the question of installing metal detectors in schools inevitably resurfaces. To preserve the safety and security of our schools, we can’t comment on the specifics of individual school security plans.
What I can say is that our Security Department is constantly reviewing best practices in school safety and security to ensure that we are implementing the most intentional strategies for each individual school. For example, our security team was at West High School on Wednesday, May 15 conducting an after-action review of the situation that transpired Tuesday, May 14. This is standard operating protocol for us and is one of the ways we remain responsive to the individual safety needs of each school.
As I have previously stated, I continue to believe that we must focus on three core strategies:
- maintaining individualized safety plans for each and every school;
- staffing highly trained officers at every school; and
- encouraging the entire community to say something if they see something.
These three actions, taken in concert, make for the best possible line of defense to protect our students, staff, and schools.