Clanton Police officer David Hicks lectures employees of the Chilton County School System about the various techniques used to spot troublesome activity during a school safety course on Wednesday at Chilton County High School. The course will be held each day throughout the week. (Photo by Anthony Richards)

Over the years, threats to school safety have evolved, which requires advances in the procedure that is taken by school employees.

Chilton County High School is hosting a week-long seminar for school administrators and personnel from across the county.

A new class of about 15 school employees will take the course each day during the week.

“Typically an administrator is going to be the one searching a student’s belongings, but a teacher will see if something is out of place long before anyone else does,” Chilton County High School resource officer David Hicks said. “They are on the front line.”

The training course is called T.R.I.C.K.S, which stands for “Teachers Removing Illegal Contraband (from) Kids (in) School,” and focuses on making sure teachers are aware of the signs to look for on a daily basis.

According to Hicks, searching is not always physical, but also includes visual, audible, scent and verbal methods.

Participants are put through real-life tests of search and seizure that include searching a car, locker, restroom and student to find hidden items in each of those scenarios.

“It is very important, and we’ve learned a lot of new and creative ways for people to hide things,” Thorsby Principal Russ Bryan said. “I can’t wait to find out what all we missed, because we want to learn the new tricks.”

Each of the items and hiding spots found during the tests was based on real-life experiences encountered by schools in the past.

The Chilton County Board of Education selected various members from every school in the county to be participating in the course.

According to Hicks, being aware of one’s surrounding on a daily basis can eliminate incidents from ever taking place.

C.J. Robinson with the district attorney’s office is scheduled to speak with the class on each day about the legal aspects to be aware of if a situation arises.

“You’ve got to train everybody now because it is a team effort,” Hicks said. “The concern used to be solely on drugs, but over the years it has evolved into much more.”

The course starts around 8 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. with a lunch break at noon.

Hicks has been involved with such programs since 2008, but this is the first of its kind to be held with the sole purpose of Chilton County schools in mind.

The class has gained the support of the community from the School Board’s approval to the cooperation from the Clanton Police Department and host Chilton County High School.

“I can’t ever remember us having any good official training on searches in the past,” Bryan said.