TCS enhances safety measures ahead of 2025/26 school year

Published 12:48 pm Wednesday, July 23, 2025

THOMASVILLE — The Thomasville City Schools faculty and staff met on Monday morning for convocation, where they received an update from Chief Academic Officer Jordan Williams on the new safety enhancements for the 2025/26 school year, including 3M film and a weapons detection system.

Prior to implementing the new tools, Williams met with the administrative staff of Apalachee High School.

On September 4, 2024, a school shooting occurred at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, resulting in four fatalities and nine injuries. Two students and two teachers were killed in the attack.

“The emotion was raw, but it was necessary,” Williams said. “We realized we had to do more.”

While speaking with the administrative staff, Williams heard the staggering statistics from the shooting that he, in turn, shared with staff.

Williams said 47 Centegix alerts went out that day.

Centegix badges allow teachers to press a button for a rapid incident response. However, Barrow County had only recently adopted Centegix badges and was still testing out the badges at many of their schools.

“All of a sudden, 47 alerts came in and they realized their worst nightmare was becoming a reality,” Williams said.

Currently, every staff member at Thomasville City Schools has a Centegix badge and is trained on how to operate it properly.

After pressing their badges at Apalachee High School, there were 38 seconds between the first gunshot and the last gunshot.

“That’s how long that encounter lasted,” Williams said.

It took School Resource officers only 44 seconds to make contact with the shooter, later identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray.

This quick response time was proof that Centegix badges work.

“Please make sure you use them,” Williams urged.

After 68 seconds, School Resource officers had Gray in physical custody with his weapon relinquished.

Unfortunately, during this incident, administrators learned that one in 92 classrooms were unlocked, which is how Gray had access to the students.

“Like many students, he asked to get up to go to the bathroom,” Williams said. “He went to the bathroom, where he had his supplies, and went back to his classroom, but the door was locked.”

However, a window was open, and a student notified the teacher that Gray had a weapon. The teacher then quickly began sending notifications on her badge.

Unfortunately, it was too late for the classroom next door, whose door was unlocked.

“The door was only an inch away from being fully closed,” Williams said. “Thirty-eight seconds later, four were dead in that classroom.”

Williams realizes this school shooting is sadly not an isolated incident and is the reality of the world today.

“There is no undoing that day, but it will take everyone to make sure this doesn’t happen to us,” he said. “Door security is school security, and having Centegix is security.”

Those measures are not enough, though.

To help improve security measures, the school system has installed 3M film in high-visibility areas.

3M film is essentially a film that holds in shattered glass. Although it is not bulletproof, it can save the occupants of a building from flying shards of glass and prevent an intruder from breaking through.

“We’ve installed that on all of our campuses,” Williams said.

Additionally, on Thomasville’s 6-12 campus, a weapons detection system has been installed.

Every student and visitor will go through the weapons detection system upon entering the 6-12 campus.

“We don’t want our school to be a prison, but we have to take extra measures now,” he said.

These measures will be implemented along with the recently approved cellphone ban, limiting the use of electronic devices at the 6-12 campus.

Williams said he understands this is a large change, but it is essential for the safety of all staff and students.