PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — We know your child's safety at school is a top priority.
With just days to go before the new school year, WPTV wanted to hear what questions are on your mind about safety and security.
WPTV education reporter Stephanie Susskind took those concerns — which start at the front door of schools — to Chief Sarah Mooney of the School District of Palm Beach County's Police Department
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Education
"My biggest concern would be anybody coming, pressing that button and bypassing the office, walking right into the school, being exposed to the classrooms," said Palm Beach County mom of four Lori Poss.
The security of school buildings themselves is a top priority for Poss.
"What are the protocols for the visitors coming into the school? Are they able to just simply press a button and have access to the school, or does someone physically come to the door to check an ID and see why they're here?" Poss asked.
Here's how Chief Mooney answered Poss' question.
"In regards to that, we have worked toward having single points of entry on every campus, which would ideally be that front office when you come in," Mooney said. "So there's physical security going into that main office. There will be a receptionist who can look and see who is outside before they buzz them in. When you get inside, you'll have to check in our Raptor system, which is kind of a verification system to make sure we aren't letting people in that shouldn't be there."
Mooney said parents can help this process by ideally calling ahead if you need to make a special trip to your child's school.
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"Very scary. Luckily, he's two, so we have a little ways to go," Palm Beach County parent Sofia Hinojosa said.
Hinojosa's son Aiden may not be in school yet, but she said safety is on her mind every day.
"I didn't think about homeschooling in the past until very recently," Hinojosa said.
This is what Hinojosa wanted to know about potential school emergencies.
"Will police be there instantly? How long does it take for them to get there? Do all the doors lock automatically?" Hinojosa asked.
"With having an officer on every campus, they are already there," Mooney answered. "So just depending on where on the campus that emergency might be, literally we are going to respond immediately. There is no delay at all. As far as locking the doors, that is our board policy and best practice in school safety that you keep your doors locked."
Mooney added that school safety is a never-ending process of adding more and more layers of protection to school campuses.
One of those layers is the panic alarm badge introduced last year. All employees have one, allowing them to initiate a lockdown or call for extra help on campus at any time.
"It's become a tool that's being utilized appropriately at this point," Mooney said. "We still had some growing pains with it heading toward the end of the school year last year. We're gonna put out information again, train on it again, and continue to work through it."
WATCH: Some Code Red lockdowns could've been handled differently, police chief says
"Last year, we talked about the lockdowns. The difference between the Code Red and Code Yellow, and some more education for everyone involved knowing the difference. Do you feel better prepared going into this school year?" WPTV education reporter Stephanie Susskind asked Mooney.
"I think our personnel on campus, including the students, are better prepared and they understand it a little bit better," Mooney answered. "I think outside of the campus, there's still a little confusion with it. Anytime we have either a lockout or a lockdown, red or yellow, we don't need extra bodies on campus. We need you to give us an opportunity to handle the situation, to mitigate it, and then we'll update you with information on what happened."
A new layer of security this year is metal detectors being tested at four high schools — Seminole Ridge Community High School, Palm Beach Lakes Community High School, John I. Leonard High School, and Palm Beach Gardens Community High School — with the potential of expanding to all high schools across the district.
"As of now, we've had a lot of good feedback from the parents, even the students, the staff. They seem very positive about having these on their campuses," Mooney said.
The chief said that of all the layers of security they can put in place, the human component is the most important. That means practicing the "See Something, Say Something" mentality, as well as the school district's police officers constantly training for their response.