Superintendent Ben Wilcox updated the Hardin County Board of Education on a recent trip to schools in Parkland, Florida, saying the visit reinforced the district’s emphasis on layered safety practices and staff and student reporting systems.

Wilcox told the board that visiting Parkland — where the 2018 mass shooting occurred — gave district leaders an opportunity to study missed warning signs and adopt stronger practices. "The Parkland, they invited us there for the simple not simple, but the very complex of the number of fails that they had in that school on that day," Wilcox said. He added that the visit was "beyond humbling" and educational for the delegation.

Nut graf: Wilcox urged continued attention to safety procedures rather than complacency and described several district measures: locked doors, monthly camera reviews, school safety officer visits and Student Resource Officers (SROs) accountability checks. He said students have used the district stop line to report concerns and that schools will send magnets with the stop‑line number and web link home to families.

Wilcox said Kentucky ranks highly on national safe‑school metrics and described requests from other districts to learn about Hardin County’s practices. He also credited SROs and state safety visits for checking cameras and other systems. Wilcox said reports submitted to the stop line this year included threats and students in need of mental‑health support; staff used those reports to trigger follow‑up and services.

Ending: The superintendent said the district will continue to refine safety practices and encourage everyone in schools — custodians, nutrition staff, teachers and students — to report concerns immediately rather than assume "it will never happen here."