MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA, Ala. — It's almost back to school time and as your kids will soon head back to the classrooms, Madison County School System Superintendent Ken Kubik, wants to ensure students are safe.
"Being former law enforcement, before I came into education, the safety and security is something that's very important to me, matter a fact, the vision that I have for this district is the safe and secure environment for our staff and our students, where teaching and learning is paramount," Kubik said.
He shares that they've budgeted for two additional school resource officers, "13 of them are going to be funded by the Madison County Board of Education. The other seven are funded by our sheriff's department. So there is 20 SRO's..."
In addition to this, and a response to the evergrowing Madison County, the school system has been rezoning and reconfiguring some of their locations.
Superintendent Kubik says having more people in the county and school safety are synonymous.
"We're working on building a corridor that's going to connect New Hope High School's...main building to the gymnasium. So the students won't have to go outside to go to the gym for safety and security purposes," Kubik said.
They've also built five new corridors, "airlock chambers inside of various schools that didn't have them so that there's a holding zone so people can't just get directly into the main building," Kubik said.
They've also widened the entryway to Meridianville Middle School to make it safer for families dropping off their kids and for travelers on the parkway.
And they're working on building a new campus, "a new school out in north of 53 in the Toney area, we are working on a McKee project out there, which looks like right now it's planning for an intermediate school out there to help out with some of that growth."
Superintendent Kubik is looking forward to welcoming students back to campus this year and will continue to prioritize the safety of students and staff.
"In the Madison County School System, we are taking steps on a daily basis to make sure that when their child is in our care, that we're providing the most safe and secure environment for them," Kubik said.
He adds their school district saw great successes last year in athletics, academia, and other extracurriculars and he can't wait to see what this new school year brings!