Moncks Corner, South Carolina. A spate of firearms incidents at Berkeley Middle School has caused rising alarm among parents, with some advocating for explicit backpack restrictions and permanent metal detectors.
Kristina Moore Lee, one of those parents, stated that the school’s repeated alarms made her worry her son’s safety on a daily basis.
“It was getting to the point where every voicemail made me wonder if it was the last hug goodbye,” she told me.
Lee initiated a petition for a clear backpack policy, but said parents rapidly demanded more.
“Almost every comment stated that we need metal detectors. “Clear backpacks are a start, but they are insufficient,” she remarked.
She and her husband eventually chose to withdraw their son from Berkeley Middle School and send him to a charter school with a smaller student body. Lee said she did not make the decision lightly, but she believed the smaller environment reduced risk.
Other parents have expressed similar worries on social media and in community forums, with some questioning whether more families will transfer their children or opt for homeschooling if safety issues persist.
Lee expressed her expectation that district leaders will take more decisive, long-term action.
“Our children are the most valuable and the most vulnerable,” she told me. “They deserve the same protections you see at a courthouse, a bank, or an arena.”
Berkeley County School District officials acknowledged parents’ concerns, but stated that procedures are already in place.
The district’s chief operations officer, Tim McDowell, stated that safety remained their primary priority.
“Forty thousand students walk into our schools every day, and we want to make sure 40,000 walk out safely,” he told me.
McDowell stated that the district employs school resource officers, locks outside doors, and secure vestibules at all entries. He added Berkeley Middle now has two SROs on campus and pupils are subjected to random weapons inspections.
“We utilize weapon screeners throughout the district,” he told me. “There could always be more to do, but we want parents to know that we are listening and responding.”
Lee stated that she hopes the dialog continues until parents are confident in taking their children to school.
“I don’t want us to be the next school shooting on the news,” she told me.
The petition for clear backpacks and metal detectors is still circulating among Berkeley County families.
