Lee County Schools held a press conference Thursday, one day after a mass shooting in a Broward County school.
Seventeen students and adults were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Lee County School Superintendent Greg Adkins said the district is now considering an increase in school resource officers on middle and high school campuses as schools get more students
"That is something that Sheriff [Mike] Scott and I just recently had a discussion about, in fact as recently as last week," said Adkins. "So, as we move toward next year and a proposed increase of again about 1,500 to 1,800 students, we also are looking for ways that we can increase the presence of law enforcement in those buildings that have larger student populations."
The school district already has Lee County Sheriff's deputies stationed at high schools and middle schools every day. And they go to elementary schools intermittently. Adkins said Lee Schools is also interested in working with the Fort Myers Police Department.
Adkins also said that he's not worried about an increased police presence potentially intimidating kids.
"This is about developing a good relationship with a police officer, a trusting relationship," he said. "So if you do feel that your safety and security is threatened this is an individual that you feel that you could go to for help."
Marc Mora handles the school district's Department of Safety and Security. He said Lee schools are in "a constant state of heightened preparedness"
"We accomplished that through drills," said Mora. "We accomplish that through training of all of our staff and our students in regards to how to respond to incidences such as this."
Lee County Schools Superintendent Adkins said that the school district will send counselors down to Stoneman Douglass High School once it reopens.
