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Putnam County Sheriff's Office plans to increase school safety

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is doubling down on security for schools in their area following the fatal shooting at a Texas high school.

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. - School districts on the First Coast are stepping up security after a deadly shooting in Texas left eight students and two teachers dead.

At Mellon Elementary School, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office set up a field office to better respond if a violent attack were to happen here or across the street at Palatka High School.

"School safety has become our primary focus at the sheriff's office," said Chief Deputy Joseph Wells.

Wells said parents, students and teachers in Putnam County will see more patrol cars on campus in the last days of the school year.

"Our priority right now is getting through this week," he said.

The sheriff's department said on Facebook that the extra security is in response to events nationwide.

Last Friday 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis walked into Santa Fe High School in Texas shooting and killing eight students and two teachers. A school resource officer was injured as he responded.

Putnam county always has school resource officers at middle and high schools, but this week, the sheriff's department is adding more officers in more locations.

"Just to ensure the safety for the remainder of this week, we have included our elementary schools and some of our private schools in that to make sure that we have a heavy law enforcement presence on those schools," he said.

Putnam County isn't the only place stepping up security. St Johns County is planning extra safety at this week's graduation where security will search bags. After the deadly shooting in Parkland, Clay County Schools implemented a system where all exterior and interior classroom doors are locked when students are in school.

The Putnam County School District is also considering arming school personnel.

The sheriff's department is waiting on the school board to make a final decision about that but has already pledged to make room in the budget for even more school resource officers for next year.

"I think it's just a sign of the time and we're not going to have any choice but to make schools our primary concern for a while," he said.

He said extra officers and safety measures are out of an abundance of caution, not because of any threat.

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