In the wake of the deadly shootings Friday at a Connecticut school, Frederick County residents have been wondering what's in place locally to protect their children.

Clifton Cornwell, Coordinator of School Security, says there are a number of measures in place to keep students safe. He says each school has a crisis plan in place, which he describes as an "all-hazards" plan that evolves as situations change. In addition, schools can be put on lockdown when there is a dangerous situation in the area, such as police looking for a person with a gun. "Every school is required to have two lockdowns drills a year," he says. "Now when they have those drills, I'll often go out and law enforcement will participate with us during the those events. We critique the teachers."

Employees at each school are instructed on what they should do to keep students safe during an emergency. "We have training that we've done with our schools, with our transportation folks, food service folks, on emergency procedures," says Cornwell.

He points out that the school system works very closely with law enforcement agencies to make sure everyone is safe. "We work on a daily basis with our SRO's {School Resource Officers}. Of course, we have them in the high schools, and they're hitting our middle and elementary schools each week. I communicate on a daily basis with that group," says Cornwell.

There are also ways the school system can monitor what's going on within school buildings. "We have surveillance systems, video recording, in all our schools. One of them is limited in terms of just front-door cameras. We have that in place. That can be monitored not only by us, but our SRO's," Cornwell says.

Following last Friday's deadly shootings in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Cornwell says he and other school system personnel reviewed security procedures. "We've worked with staff over the weekend. There have been directions as to beefing up security, or just paying more attention to our perimeter security around our schools," he says.

Some citizens have called for metal detectors to be placed in the schools to catch anyone who comes in with a weapon. But Cornwell says entry into school buildings is restricted. All visitors must sign in at the administrative office, and, in the new buildings, the front door goes right into the administrative office. "Our buildings are locked down. We're looking at buildings that have redesigned entrances. We're looking at the buzzer system: how they use those buzzer systems. Are they checking people before they come into the building," he says. "Generally, all those systems were in place to direct visitors to the office."

Like many Americans, Cornwell says he too was affected by the news of the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children and seven adults were killed. "I take the protection of our 40-some-thousand students, five-thousand-some staff truly to heart," he says.

Anyone who sees something suspicious in or near a school is urged to call 911 immediately.