PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - The beginning of the school year is officially here and Broward County will be seeing some big changes as a result of the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

It has been six months since the Feb. 14 mass shooting, and while the school has already seen some security changes, Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said they will be making security a top priority this year.

“It’s a bittersweet day here for everyone,” Runcie said. “I think everyone’s glad to get back and be reunited.”

Students, teachers and faculty were back on campus after a summer dedicated to implementing tighter security in schools.

One major update for Stoneman Douglas and most schools will be a single point of entry. That means there will be one way in and one way out during arrival and dismissal.

“I felt different because it’s a different feel now that we don’t have the freshmen building. We come in and we just go to different places now,” said RJ Rowe.

Some students felt more at ease by the end of the day. “I didn’t really sleep well, so I guess subconsciously, I was kind of a little scared,” said student Naomi Rozenberg. “We come back with this brand new year, but with memories we never expected to have.”

“Teachers said, ‘We’re still here for all you guys, and we definitely understand what happened, and we’d like to make sure that you guys are OK, and we’re all here,” said Liam Kiernan. “It was a beautiful sign of support. It’s really good to see how we’ve been really rebuilding.”

New entrances are still in the works at some schools, but Runcie reassured that students are still safe and the updates are on the way. “Every school has components of single point of entry,” said Runcie, “but fully completed, meeting the district standards, we probably have somewhere a little less than 100 schools to go.”

Every campus will also have an armed officer or guardian — someone with a law-enforcement background. However, several students and parents have voiced their frustration, saying not enough has been done.

“They said they put a lot of new safety measures in. I mean, I’m about to find out right now, so we’ll see just how it goes,” said Stoneman Douglas senior Zach Gordon. “Just got to move on and we just got to do it. It’s my last year, so I’m out after this.”

Students said there’s also tighter security rules for the simple things.

“Like for bathroom passes, normally it’s just get up, you can go to the bathroom,” said student Talia Rumsky. “Now you have to sign out. If you’re gone for more than five minutes, security comes looking for you, so it’s very intense.”

“If you ask me about what the county has done, I don’t think they’ve done enough,” said MSD parent Steven Feuerman. “But I do feel the school is safer, and you know, I met all the new police last week and the new SROs, and I’m very impressed with the guys that we have.”

Officials said once the district gets more funding, they can hit their goal of getting every school a school resource officer.

“We have the referendum that’s on the Aug. 28 ballot,” said Runcie, “and that’s to help us to secure additional resources in terms of security.”

Runcie had a news conference after doing a walkthrough of the Stoneman Douglas campus Wednesday morning. He said the county’s goal is to ultimately have a ratio of one school resource officer to every 1,000 students.

“Until then, we are continuing to partner with our local municipality, trying to leverage their law enforcement personnel,” he said. “Some of them will have to pay overtime, some of them will have to do extra-duty detail, but it’s gonna take the entire county working together to make sure that we’re meeting that goal.”

Also on the way are new fences, more security cameras, and all students will be required to wear I.D. badges on campus.

“The fact of wearing I.D.’s I think is good because you can actually identify that you go to the school,” said one student.

There’s also more money in the pot for mental health resources.

“Everything from counselors, social workers, behavior therapists,” Runcie said.

Some parents with safety concerns said that it’s still not enough.

“When my child walks through MSD with her backpack, how are you gonna tell me that no one else on that campus is gonna have a gun or a knife in their backpack?” said parent Tracy Lund at Tuesday’s board meeting.

On Tuesday, the school board heard from security experts. Safe Havens International presented their findings after completing security assessments on all Broward County campuses.

Officials recommended upgraded surveillance systems, buzzer access and adding a chief security officer with a communication center. They also reminded the board that the metal detectors can only do so much.

Runcie said he understands the security changes will require a change in behavior from everyone and that at times it may pose an inconvenience. However, safety and security are most important.

The first day of school is usually tough, but it was especially hard for these students.

“One of my friends wasn’t there, unfortunately,” said Kiernan.

“I’d say it was emotionally draining. Definitely meeting new people and adjusting to new classes,” said Rozenberg, “but it was also reassuring to find my community again.”

“We do everything for them. When we play sports, we do it for them,” added Rowe. “Everything we do for them.”

There are 15 security monitors and three new armed school resource officers at Stoneman Douglas. The district said they spent $6.5 million for the security upgrades and it’ll continue to spend more money to make sure the students are safe.

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