Beech Tree News Network

With an uptick in school-related incidents across the country and subsequent reporting and sharing via social media, Butler County Schools Superintendent Robert Tuck has released the following letter to parents of children in the school district. It is posted below in its entirety.

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Dear Parent,

Given the recent stories and images at the forefront of our newscycle of the unfortunate events that have occurred in our nation recently, I know that many of you are very concerned when you send your precious children to school each morning.  Unfortunately, it is a stark reality that we are exposed to more school-related incidents than ever before.  As a society, we live in a time with 24-7 news coverage and postings on social media outlets that allow users to instantly share misinformation that can sometimes magnify stories regarding our schools.  Increasing use of Artificial Intelligence programs further exacerbate the spread of concerning messages and threats across the United States.  All of these factors combine together to create concern and trepidation for parents and families when sending your children to school.

In hopes to alleviate some of that concern as well as to broaden the understanding of our procedural safeguards within our schools, I would like to share with you some of the safeguards and strategies we have in place within the Butler County School System.  

1. Each school campus is covered by a School Resource Officer.  In addition to our SRO’s, we receive additional coverage and patrols by Constable Dale Willis.

2. We work directly with the Butler County Sheriff's Department, Morgantown City Police, County Attorney Michelle Duvall, and Commonwealth Attorney Blake Chambers  to ensure the safety of our schools and our students.

3. Butler County Schools has spent a great deal of money installing access control and security cameras to each of our buildings.  

4. Each exterior door is locked during the school day. 

5. All classroom doors are locked during instructional time.

6. All visitors are electronically admitted into schools only after they have been screened and have provided ID and valid reasons to be on campus.

7. The Office of the State School Security Marshal has compliance officers that conduct unannounced inspections of all public schools to ensure that all safety protocols are being followed.

8. We have a trained Threat Assessment Team in every school along with a wide variety of practices which put Butler County Schools at the forefront of school safety in Kentucky.

9. We have a Statewide STOP Tipline for anyone: student, school staff, parents, guardians, grandparents, law enforcement, community-at-large.  All are encouraged to send us a tip if they “See or Hear Something” which gets us ahead of a potential problem.

It is the commitment of Butler County Schools to provide a safe learning environment for all students which serves to promote growth within our students holistically.  For all of the current practices we utilize to keep our students safe, the most effective and most important step by everyone is if you See Something, Say Something.  We must all remain vigilant in our steps to keep our students safe and through the use of effective communication and reporting tools such as the STOP Tipline, we can respond immediately and effectively to any situation should the need arise.  Let’s continue to work together to maximize school safety for all, and please feel free to contact me at any time about any concern you might have related to your child and their school experience.

Most sincerely,

Robert Tuck

Superintendent - Butler County Schools