RALEIGH, N.C. — As students prepare to head back to the classroom, safety is top of mind for both parents and school districts across North Carolina.

School safety topped the $27.9 billion North Carolina state budget this year, with an additional $15 million for the School Resource Officer Grant Program. The budget also provides $32 million for school safety grants for things like safety equipment, school safety training and to support students in crisis.

The funding comes in the wake of one of the worst school shootings in our nation’s history. Nineteen elementary school students and two teachers were killed when a gunman opened fire inside Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas in May.

Karen Fairley, the executive director for the Center for Safer Schools in N.C. says they are gearing up for the new school year by offering as much training as possible.

“We just came out of our R.I.S.E back to school training last week, where we had a myriad of topics covered as it relates to school safety - from active shooter response to mental health issues surrounding behavioral threat assessments,” Fairley said. “We are continually preparing to provide training, technical assistance and resources to our schools this coming school year.”

Currently, Fairley says some school districts are having difficulty finding officers to provide each school with an SRO.

“There are grant fundings available for districts who have challenges in meeting that need from a fiscal standpoint, but there's also the need that we can't cover,” Fairley explained. “That is that some jurisdictions don't have enough officers to provide the SROs. They just, they have just enough of what they need to do the regular patrolling. And so that is a challenge.”

Meanwhile, schools in Madison County are implementing new security measures by stocking AR-15 rifles for SROs to use in case of an active shooter.

Fairley said, “One of the great things about North Carolina school districts are, they're very autonomous. They get to make the decisions that's what's right for their district.”

The role of the NC DPI (Department of Public Instruction) is to support districts at the state level as they make decisions that pertain to their community.

Other districts have been using the state funding from the School Safety Grants to purchase metal or weapon detectors to increase security.

For example, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools bought two metal detectors for every middle and high school in its school system. The district says they’ll be used for special occasions, like sporting events.

Catawba County Schools purchased 10 portable metal detectors.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is installing body scanning equipment in all of its middle schools, with plans to get them in elementary schools as well. CMS currently has detectors in all of its high schools.

Guilford County High Schools also plans on getting body scanning equipment to increase security this year.

Overall, Fairley wants parents to know that North Carolina schools are safe.

“Our schools, our districts, our SROs, the teachers, everyone works really hard in North Carolina to ensure the safety of schools,” Fairley said. “We do the best that we can with the knowledge that we have at this particular time.”

She also encourages both students and parents to be diligent – and if they see something, say something.

“They say something, that is one of the best ways to minimize violent attacks,” Fairley said. “Normally, people who do that have shared their thoughts with someone.”

“We want people to be diligent. Parents to be diligent and monitoring their children's activity and who their friends are on their social media platforms that the children have," Fairley said. "I mean, it's a community effort, but I want parents to know that schools in North Carolina are safe and they're doing the best that they can."