GREECE, N.Y. — In the wake of violence and mass shootings at schools, districts are taking a close look at their security measures.

Greece Central School District is beefing up its security with some new security measures for the start of this school year.

It starts at the entranceways of every building in the district.

“Our guard would communicate with the person outside and explain why they're here. We would buzz them through the first door, they would show a license here. We would run their license, confirm that they are not a sex offender, confirm that they're not banned from the property, then we would verify their purpose as to why they're coming into school,” said Greece CSD Director of School Safety and Security Steve Chatterton.

He adds, "Once you buzz them in, they're really not in your school, they're really in a holding area until you can verify. But we have bullet-resistant glass on all the windows."

Chatterton says a big part of the security plan is staff training. He says every building has a safety team called an emergency response team. It's all part of a district-wide safety plan. The buildings are equipped with buttons for quick access to help during an emergency.

“We have two different things. We have lockdown buttons. In addition to that, we also have panic buttons that go directly to 911,” said Chatterton. “So we also use a visitor management system that has an emergency button. And if you hit the emergency button at the front door, a text message goes to my whole security team along with all the administrators in that building.”

For the start of this school year, there are also major improvements in the camera surveillance system.

“There are cameras everywhere. There's like literally not any area in our building that's a dead spot anymore," said Chatterton. "I saw one major weak spot when we were trying to use the PA’s. It was that if you were in a loud cafeteria, you didn't hear the PA. So we installed these scrolling signs and alarms and they're very loud. So if the building were to go into lockdown, the cafeteria would know. We put these in several places like gyms and libraries. We put strobe lights on the outside of the building."

Also new this year are new locks on every door. Teachers can now lock their classrooms from the inside. And there is a new emergency alert system.

Plus, Greece CSD is using technology to keep its schools safe with an app.

"This is an app we have and it's tied into our cameras and it's tied into our whole system,” said Chatterton. “So this will be given to between five and 10 members per building, and they'll have permission to be able to put the building into a lockdown or take the building out of a lockdown in the emergency.”

Chatterton, a former police officer himself, is teaming with the Greece Police Department to make sure officers have access to all buildings.

“All of our police officers in the town of Greece have been issued our swipe cards and they also have master keys that can get into any building,” he said.

The security measures are the same throughout all of the school buildings in the Greece Central School District.

“Every year, we look to improve and come up with best practices and how to do things,” said Chatterton. “I see security as a system. You know, it's not just security guards. It's everything when you put everything together.”

The plan is to make sure students starting school this year in this district are safer than in years prior – and will be safer in years to come.