SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Fulton County Schools confirmed that a former student entered an elementary school playground and assaulted several fourth graders and a staff member Wednesday.
Students sustained minor injuries. Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne learned there have been concerns from parents about the accessibility of the playground.
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Dr. Atuhani Burnett has two children, soon to be three, who attend Heards Ferry Elementary School in Fulton County. He is one of about 14 parents who had been working for months to improve security at the school.
Concerns about vulnerability of the school playground was at the top of their list.
“This should be a massive warning sign for me as a parent, for any administrator who cares to pay attention to the community,” Burnett told Winne.
Fulton County Schools confirmed that a former student, who is now middle-school aged, entered the school playground and attacked several students and a staff member. A full investigation is in progress.
“We are not in confrontation with the school. We are in cooperation,” Burnett said.
A group of parents met with school officials in November about the playground and other security concerns. Burnett said parents pushed for a security officer and they even volunteered to raise money to pay for one.
“We volunteered to pass a hat around and pick up the cost,” he said.
They also pushed for barriers around the playground. At a follow-up meeting just last Friday, a school official said the district was not in favor of having a security officer on the playground or full time at the school.
“The school system did acknowledge that funding was a barrier to having a school officer,” Burnett said.
A Fulton County Schools spokesman told Winne that schools have multiple layers of security, including surveillance cameras and parking lot license plate readers, high-tech ID badges for employees and more.
The spokesman said a full-time campus security associate will be at Heards Ferry Elementary School indefinitely and significant fencing improvements and gate replacements would commence soon.
The spokesman told Winne even before the playground incident, school police officers stopped by the campus at various times.
“Excellent school and we love the school. We love our parents, we love our teachers, we love the principal,” Burnett said.
The principal sent a letter to parents on Wednesday that said in part:
“Today, our fourth grade classes had an opportunity to meet with the administration and our counseling staff, who provided space for students to ask questions, share feelings, and receive reassurance.”
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