Kentucky Newsmakers 8/28: SOAR COO Joshua Ball; Ky. Center for School Safety Exec. Dir. Jon Akers; Ky. School Security Marshal Ben Wilcox

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - On the latest episode of Kentucky Newsmakers, WKYT’s Bill Bryant talks with the Kentucky Center for School Safety Executive Director Jon Akers, State School Security Marshal Ben Wilcox, and SOAR‘s Chief Operating Officer Joshua Ball.

School bells are ringing and classes are beginning for a brand new year. But how safe are our schools in Kentucky? The horrible shooting in Uvalde, Texas raised all kinds of questions about school security and how to respond, and more importantly how to prevent such a nightmare.

Kentucky law now requires an armed officer at every school, but most districts are unable to comply with that rule.

Jon Akers is a former high school principal who runs the Kentucky Center for School Safety based at Eastern Kentucky University and he joins us. State School Security Marshal Ben Wilcox also joins us.

It’s been a month since the awful flooding hit eastern Kentucky, and it will be many more months before the region will begin to resemble normal. The toughest part is eastern Kentucky was already dealing with profound challenges before the thousand-year flood.

SOAR, which stands for Shaping Our Appalachian Region was working before the floods and is ramping up its efforts to improve the region. They’ve even established a fund just for K-12 students. Also joining us is SOAR’s Chief Operating Officer Joshua Ball.

Copyright 2022 WKYT. All rights reserved.