Superintendents, principals, teachers and police officers from Fall River to Freetown have recently been reviewing security plans, looking for weak spots that a gunman could exploit, and trying to strengthen those areas.

The sad reality in 21st century America requires that school principals, teachers, police officers and students in Greater Fall River be prepared for the possibility that someone armed with a gun might one day try to enter their school and open fire.

“We train for active-shooter situations regularly, and pray to God we never need it,” said Westport Police Detective Nicholas Custadio.

Superintendents, principals, teachers and police officers from Fall River to Freetown have recently been reviewing security plans, looking for weak spots that a gunman could exploit, and trying to strengthen those areas. Parents who are concerned for their children’s safety have requested more police officers in the schools, and some would like to see teachers trained to carry firearms.

School and police officials regularly review their safety protocols and conduct active-shooter training drills, but school security has taken on a new sense of urgency in the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In that shooting, 17 people, mostly teenagers, were killed and another 17 wounded by a 19-year-old man who was armed with an AR-15 rifle.

The Florida shooting, one of the world’s deadliest school massacres ever, not only reignited a national debate over gun control and mental health, but it also spurred waves of copycat threats on social media across the country and underscored the necessity for schools to be vigilant and prepared for the worst.

“It’s the new norm. It’s awful that we even have to have this conversation, but that’s what it is,” said Fall River Superintendent Matt Malone, who added that superintendents across Massachusetts have been communicating with each other in recent weeks about best practices for securing their schools.

Malone said local police and federal agencies are still investigating a pair of anonymous threats in mid-February that promised a “Florida Part 2” attack at B.M.C. Durfee High School and other schools in Fall River. As of this week, police had not apprehended any suspects.

“Any jerk with an iPhone or iPad can create hysteria by doing these anonymous threats,” Malone said. “I hope we catch the folks who did this.”

A major mass shooting like the Florida massacre inevitably triggers new rounds of internal school security reviews, said Freetown Police Chief Carlton Abbott.

“Unfortunately, there have been so many,” Abbott said, adding that Freetown officials reviewed their school safety protocols after the December 2012 shooting in which 20 young children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

In the past week, Abbott said he met with the police chief in Lakeville and the superintendent of the Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District to discuss the security plan at the regional middle and high school building. In addition, Freetown police officers walked through the Freetown Elementary School with the superintendent and principal to see what safety measures could be improved there.

Without getting into too much detail — “You don’t want to disclose your strengths and weaknesses" — Abbott said the schools in Freetown and Lakeville use video cameras, mirrors, two-way communication tools, and grant access to police officers to use several doors in the event of an emergency.

Abbott added that a consortium of several towns that include Freetown, Westport and Berkley for more than 15 years has regularly scheduled joint active-shooter drills using simulated ammunition in school buildings.

“We make it as realistic as we possibly can, and we all have our policies in place, so the officers know what their obligations are,” Abbott said.

Like others in Greater Fall River, Freetown police officers and teachers have undergone ALICE training, a response to active shooter situations that goes beyond the traditional “lockdown" method.

In ALICE training, Custadio said teachers and school officials are taught to be more proactive. For example, if a teacher can safely do so, he or she might try to smash a window and get the students out of the classroom.

“If you are nowhere near the active shooter situation, you take off and get the hell outta there,” Custadio said.

At Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, teachers are also trained in ALICE protocols, said Tom Aubin, the school’s superintendent-director.

“Every teacher knows about first looking down the hallways before trying to leave,” Aubin said. “They have to be aware of their surroundings. Each event is unique. We all have had to get out of the old rote behavior of just marching out the building through the same door.”

Diman recently hosted a safety presentation for parents to brief them on recent and upcoming security changes. Among those new measures is a plan to limit access into the building to two doors in the morning and one door during the rest of the day. Diman is also looking to improve its student identity card system and will soon be installing dozens of new security cameras that the Fall River Police Department will be able to remotely access.

“We’re also looking at trying to get an outside security company to put a fresh set of eyes on the building and see if there is something that we educators are missing,” said Aubin, who added that an annual evacuation drill will also soon be scheduled.

“This is not a one-and-done deal here,” he said. “We’re going to be continually looking at this.”

The Somerset Police Department also monitors security cameras in the town’s public schools, and will soon be installing a new communication network between the police and school departments that will enable school administrators and teachers, via an app on their smartphones, to notify police in real-time in the event of an emergency.

Somerset and Somerset-Berkley Superintendent Jeffrey Schoonover said there will be increased police coverage in the town and district schools for the remainder of the academic year. At the end of this month, security experts trained by the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be conducting a safety risk assessment at all the schools and providing their recommendations to improve safety. In addition, officials will create a new school safety advisory board comprised of school committee members, principals, parents and police officers.

"Incidents like what happened in Parkland makes every school district look at what they have in place a little more closely," Schoonover said, adding that the district "is constantly checking" to make sure its safety procedures are up to date.

Somerset school and police officials discussed their recent safety reviews with parents in a public meeting on Wednesday night. Schoonover said the meeting was "more positive" than a meeting the week before where emotions were running high.

"That's to be expected when parents are talking about the safety of their children," Schoonover said. "There is nothing more important than that. That's to be expected."

Somerset Police Chief George McNeil said that there have been "a lot of suggestions" from parents about arming teachers.

“Arming teachers, I think, is a terrible idea,” McNeil added. “I don’t think having firearms inside the school at all times is a very viable or logical solution. It makes no sense.”

Most local police and school officials disagree with arming teachers; a proposal that gained some attention nationwide after President Donald Trump last month floated the possibility of paying a bonus to teachers who are trained to carry firearms.

“There is a lot of training that goes into carrying and using a firearm correctly,” Custadio said. “With all the moral and ethical questions that would raise, I think that would be another fish to fry.”

Custadio said he could envision using retired police officers as an extra security presence on a part-time basis at the schools. Malone has called for a federally-funded security force that would be tasked with keeping schools safe.

“We’re not going to make teachers carry guns, ever. Teachers have to teach,” Malone said. “The issue is having armed people in the building who are ready to defend everyone else. I believe we need more armed security in place.”

Besides beefing up security measures, local schools have also been emphasizing the importance of mental health and trying to offer support services to students experiencing personal difficulties. Students have been urged as well to be aware of and report any unusual activity to school administrators.

But despite all the protocols, security reviews and safety procedural upgrades, Malone admitted that he and other superintendents can never guarantee 100 percent security.

"If someone wants to come in with a long rifle and do us harm, they're going to be able to do that. We have to be prepared to respond. Just locking doors doesn't mean that bad guys won't get in," said Malone, who noted that Fall River has seven school resource officers and a team of special operations police officers who are trained and ready to take down an armed intruder.

"Everyday, parents send their kids to us," Malone said. "It's a leap of faith. Parents trust us that we're ready to do what we must do to keep their kids safe. And I would say that we are ready."

Email Brian Fraga at bfraga@heraldnews.com