CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools finished rolling out a new anonymous reporting program aimed at keeping kids safe in the classroom.
The district is launching the Say Something anonymous reporting system at its middle and high schools. Student training on the program began on Jan. 25.
The rollout of the app comes after a record number of weapons turning up on CMS campuses this school year.
"We're a family and we were out here helping each other," Richard Parker, the East Mecklenburg High School Principal, said. "We depend on each other to keep it safe."
Say Something is a violence prevention program from the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise. The program allows both students and adults to submit anonymous safety concerns through an app, website, or hotline.
"There's never going to be a foolproof system out there," Parker said. "But the biggest thing we want students to know is and parents is if you hear anything at all, you need to tell us don't hold it."
Thousands of students from 6th to 12th grade went through live virtual one-hour training sessions on how to report things like a possible suicide or a gun on campus.
CMS said 84 schools and six learning communities are using the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System.
At least 195 tips have been submitted in the CMS district since the program launched in January
Parker said some students are afraid of being labeled a snitch if they report an issue at school. Parker said the live training addressed this.
"There's a difference if you're just trying to get someone in trouble then you're a snitch, but if you're trying to keep someone from hurting yourself or hurting others, then that's what you want to be," Parker said.
The CMS School Board Student Advisor Juan Torres-Munoz said at Tuesday night's school board meeting not all students grasped the training.
"Students believe that the say something app has great potential, but it has not been introduced to them correctly," Torres-Munoz said. "The training given was not engaging at all, and many of them after it barely knew how to actually use the app."
Torres-Munoz said he received this information from Charlotte Mecklenburg Youth Council who spoke to students in schools like Myers-Park, Olympic, Phillip O. Berry, West Park, and North Meck.
At East Meck High School, where Torres-Munoz is a junior, the principal said they’re rolling out a program called Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) to get students more comfortable.
“We've got an advisor, and they're going to be kind of getting that going and do a lot more marketing and PR about the Say Something app,” Parker said.
There are also flyers around the school to show people how to use the program. In addition, the school is open to doing a refresher training session with students to make sure they don’t forget how to use it.
The program was first rolled out in the state in 2019. The neighboring school district, Union County School District, is already using the program.
The Say Something App is coupled with several new initiatives to keep CMS students safe.
In the coming weeks, clear bookbags ordered in November for nearly $500,000 have arrived and will be handed out to students.
In addition to body scanners for some schools to prevent weapons like guns.
"We've already had, you know, been designated in our school where ours are going to go," Parker said.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.