The Putnam County School System is committed to implementing an environment that is free from danger for students, parents, and teachers. School safety is a crucial part of our mission to provide students with an opportunity to be engaged and inspired so that they can achieve.

Safety Plans: Without sharing specific information about all our emergency plans or safety measures, sharing that type of information could undermine the effectiveness of those plans and even provide someone who means to do harm with the information they could use. We want to share that we are very blessed in our county to have fully vested law enforcement partners, School Resource Officers (SRO), fire department and emergency management agencies. They work exceptionally well with PCSS and are intimately involved in our safety plans. These local agencies meet routinely with district and school-level leadership to provide the district with education, recommendations and opportunities to drill for the safety of our school community. 

Putnam County schools are grateful to have an SRO at every school. Having officers onsite at school building locations has not always been the case and is still not in other school districts. Our SROs and principals must conduct annual security assessments and audits to identify deficits, and safety grant funds are used to help address those concerns. A school safety plan with best practices is in place for school leaders to enhance building security. Those assessments and plans are submitted to the state of Tennessee.

Our district and school leadership, faculty and staff are committed to a safe and secure environment.  Each school has a School Emergency Response Team (SERT), consisting of school-level staff trained by the Putnam County emergency services team to respond to emergent situations. All Putnam County faculty members are trained in ALICE emergency response.  ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. 

Putnam County School System has an entire team dedicated to Coordinated School Health through Student Services. They focus on safety, mental health, and family and community engagement. 

Governor Lee, The Tennessee Department of Education, Safety & Homeland Security and Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services have come together to offer some tips for families. 

• Use the SafeTN app. 

• Familiarize yourself with school leadership and opportunities to be present at school functions. 

• Keep an eye out for warning signs and learn how to address student concerns, such as bullying. 

• Know how to access mental health resources in your community. 

• Ask about your child’s school emergency plans. 

• Look for opportunities to partner with or volunteer at your child’s school. 

• Reach out if you need support- resources are available and can be shared.

• PCSS encourages families to look at the local resources that are available to them and report any suspicious activity to school admin, SRO or police.