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School safety was the big topic during Thursday’s regular meeting of the Claiborne County Board of Education.

A scare went through the community last week after some screen shots of social media comments were circulating that implied a threat of violence at Claiborne High School. At least one parent confirmed to local media that the school was on a soft lock down, but that was never actually the case.

Director of Schools Meredith Arnold and Sheriff Bob Brooks put out a join statement, stating the Board of Education, Sheriff’s Department and Homeland Security have been working to maintain a safe learning environment across the county.

“Know that we are aware and have been addressing and investigating the shared screen captures of social media comments that have been circulating through our community as well as surrounding counties. The Department of Homeland Security and the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department have made home visits as well to thoroughly investigate, and at this time, these concerns are not deemed viable threats. As a precaution, extra security strategically has been placed throughout the county at our schools and on and around our campuses,” the main part of the statement read.
“We do ask that you please assist us in these matters by speaking to your child about responsible social media use. Know that any type of social media threats will be taken seriously and investigated possibly resulting in severe consequences including legal action. If your child becomes aware of a threat, we ask the child report all concerns directly to the school and/or law enforcement.”

During her report at Thursday’s meeting, Arnold said it had been a very eventful week with all of the comments on social media and thanked Homeland Security and the Sheriff’s Department for their efforts in keeping the county’s schools safe.

“We’ve worked long hours this past week to address the concerns expressed on social media. I truly appreciate everyone’s efforts and please note that the SROs on our campuses are amazing and I commend them,” she said. “As you know, counties all across the United States have been addressing these same types of social media comments. Please note that we have certain protocols in place that principals are to follow in the event of an actual threat or emergency. The safety of our students and staff members is a top priority.”

The board also heard a presentation from Whitney Bowling and Nancy Hagar. They had Jordan Walker of Central Technologies to demonstrate the Centegix crisis alert system. It would provide all staff members with a badge about the size of a credit card that has a panic button they can push to alert their school’s administration and law enforcement of an emergency in their classroom. The technology shows exactly where in the school the button was pushed on a map of the campus that can be accessed by law enforcement and administrators through an app.

Centegix is the exact system used at the high school in Georgia where there was a recent school shooting. The alert allowed law enforcement to respond within four minutes and know exactly where the shooter was in the school. The system can also be used to alert a nurse of a medical emergency in a classroom or let administrators know if they need to respond to a fight or another discipline issue. The system also includes beacons Inside each classroom and along the hallways that will flash color-coded warnings in case of an emergency along with a message through the school’s intercom. It will also send a message to any computer screens in use.
Johnson said it would take three to five months to get everything installed and up and running so the system is integrated with 9-1-1 and has enhanced maps of each school campus uploaded to the app.

“If you all remember back when the County Commission was discussing the additional five cents, they asked what we would be using that money for. Our response to them was safety,” Arnold said. “That is recurring money coming in and we have enough financial stability to cover the cost of this in all of the schools in our county.”
At the start of Thursday’s meeting County Attorney James Estep swore in the newly elected and re-elected board members:  Shane Bunch, Dan Pearman, Wade Breeding and Miranda Adams as well as the student board members: Miriam Peoples from Claiborne High and Hudson Harris from Cumberland Gap.
Breeding was elected as board chairman and Linda Fultz vice chair.

The Board also approved new payroll deductions for health insurance and kept their existing policy through Shafer Insurance. Previously, school employees received insurance for themselves at no cost while employees and their families were through a  $358 per month payroll deduction (16% of the premium). Under the new plan individual employees still get insurance at no cost for themselves; a new deduction level for an employee plus one family member (either a spouse or child) at $294; the deduction for an employee and their family increased to $430. The new payroll deductions reflect employees paying 20 % of the premium. Insurance benefits remained the same.
The 2025-2026 School District Calendar was also approved as well as a some policy revisions, including one related to Title IX and Sexual Harassment. This policy update “identifies the investigator(s) as the district complaint managers regarding investigating complaints in an equitable manner that involves an objective evaluation of all relevant evidence.”
Board member Shane Bunch made a motion to remove that Title IX revision from the list of consent items and discuss it separately.
“I would just like for us to reassure that this doesn’t mean that we, as a school system, agree with having boys in girls sports or girls locker rooms,” he said.
Estep clarified that the policy revision was just to identify who would investigator sexual harassment claims correcting their contact information.
“There is no change in our position as far as sexual orientation and/or allowing members of the opposite sex into restrooms,” he said.
The revision passed unanimously