COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – As South Carolina lawmakers prepare to return to Columbia, education leaders and legislators say school safety will again be a major focus, with discussions ranging from additional security personnel and panic alert systems to classroom discipline and student behavior.Those issues were front and center at South Carolina’s first statewide School Safety and Security Symposium, where roughly 300 educators, law enforcement officers and school safety professionals gathered alongside representatives from the state Department of Education, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office to discuss threat assessment, violence prevention and emerging challenges facing schools.State leaders said South Carolina has invested millions of dollars in school safety in recent years, expanding funding for school resource officers, mental health services and security upgrades. But they argued that keeping students safe requires more than cameras, locked doors and on-campus law enforcement.One proposal the South Carolina Department of Education plans to pursue during the next legislative session is a School Support Officer pilot program. The initiative would place trained support officers in schools to provide an additional layer of security alongside school resource officers.State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver said the proposal is designed to supplement, not replace, law enforcement personnel already serving schools.“It’s in no way meant to replace law enforcement or to supplant that law enforcement officer, but simply to provide another layer of security and protection when those seconds truly count,” Weaver said.Similar programs already exist in states including Florida and Virginia.However, symposium discussions extended beyond physical security. State leaders also pointed to classroom discipline as a growing challenge for schools and teachers.“Classroom management, classroom respect, classroom discipline is an ongoing challenge our students and teachers face, and I believe that more than anything else is what is attributing to teachers choosing to leave the profession,” Weaver said.In an interview Senate Education Committee Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry, said concerns about violent and disruptive student behavior are among the most common complaints he hears from educators. He said lawmakers are considering whether the state should establish clearer standards for how schools handle serious disciplinary incidents.“This doesn’t happen everywhere, but it happens enough and is a big enough problem we feel like it’s time for the state to step in and draw some parameters about what to do with that child that takes that kind of action,” Hembree said.Lawmakers are also expected to revisit Alyssa’s Law, a proposal that would require schools to implement mobile panic alert systems that allow staff to quickly notify law enforcement and first responders during emergencies.While some districts have already adopted the technology, Hembree said a key question remains how the mandate would be funded statewide.“I think it’ll be a policy that gets enacted statewide, whether it’s the state taxpayers paying the bills or is it going to be the local taxpayers paying the bills,” Hembree said.Officials also urged parents to remain engaged in their children’s online activity, saying awareness of social media use, messaging platforms and online interactions can play a critical role in identifying potential threats before they escalate.Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.Copyright 2026 WIS. All rights reserved.
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