By Alicia Couch Payne
In a statement released to The North Gwinnett Voice, the Buford City School System has created the Buford City Schools Department of School Safety and Security. This is the direct result of years of careful planning come to fruition. The formation of this department means that the schools will have their own School Resource Department established through the State of Georgia.
Buford City Schools Interim Superintendent, Joy Davis, said that the department will house three resource officers by the start of the 2019-2020 school year. Chief Mindy Bayreuther, who is a retired Gwinnett County Police Department Assistant Chief will head the new department. The new Chief will be responsible for hiring and training the new resource officers that will serve and protect the children of the Buford City School System. She will make her office at the Central Office for the school system.
Chief Bayreuther comes with extensive experience that includes twenty-four years of uniform patrol, administration, investigations, and other leadership roles. One might have seen Chief Bayreuther around the schools before now as she is no stranger to the Buford City School System. She is a BCSS parent and has often worked event security for the school system in the past.
Interim Superintendent Davis stresses that the formation of the new department is not as a result of a “specific threat or any perceived threat”. The formation of the department has been in the works for a number of years and is necessary as the school system continues to grow. Currently, the school system relies on public safety staff from the City of Buford and hires event security from local law enforcement entities such as the Gwinnett County Police Department and the Hall County Sheriff’s Department.
Through the support from the City of Buford, the school system made the decision to form the BCSS Department of School Safety and Security as the safety of the children and staff of Buford is of the utmost importance. A day after the decision to form the new department was made, the National Panel on School Security released their report stating that the number one thing a school system could do to protect their students is to have school resource officers stationed on campus. They also recommended secure entry points with video monitoring which is already in place thanks to the generous support from the City of Buford.
The Buford City School System will continue to be proactive when it comes to the safety of its students and staff. Being a parent of children who attend Buford Middle School, I can say that this announcement eases my mind in regards to campus security. Especially, in light of the sheer size of the new Buford High School campus. I, for one, would like to welcome Chief Bayreuther and congratulate her on being the inaugural Chief of the BCSS Department of School Safety and Security.
