The start of another school year is just around the corner. Given recent headlines, it can also be a time of stress for parents when it comes to school safety.

Just as the school year was wrapping up in May, another mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas reignited the national conversation on school safety. Now, with a new school year beginning, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office is preparing for the worst by training to keep students, faculty and staff safe inside their schools.

The law enforcement agency spent this summer retraining school resource officers and preparing the public for active shooter situations.

“We train our people to go in and stop the threat and try to immediate the situation as soon as possible,” said Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati.

Following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Imperati said he wants to ensure families feel safe sending their children to school. He also wants students and school faculty and staff members to know they are protected.

“We’re on top of situations and aware of situations, working with our school districts for any viable threat that may come up,” Imperati said. “We’ve researched those threats, so we’re well-prepared for that, but there’s always a concern of a copy-cat incident throughout the country.”

Imperati said the sheriff’s office has expanded their School Resource Officer Program by adding one officer to Dutchess County BOCES and another to Wappingers Central School District.

“We’ll have a total of 12 school resource officers assigned throughout Dutchess County. We’ll continue to work with all the school districts, have each school resource officer assigned to the school safety teams, go over school safety plans,” Imperati said.

According to Imperati, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Emergency Service Unit participates in active shooter training monthly, and the entire staff is retrained each year.

If anyone hears something of concern, whether it’s on social media, through an email or elsewhere, he said to contact a law enforcement agency immediately.

“We will look into that incident, investigate it thoroughly to determine whether it’s a viable threat or if it’s not a viable threat. Don’t ever worry about calling us or inconveniencing us. That’s what we’re here for. Your safety, your family’s safety is our priority,” Imperati said.