MADISONVILLE-It's never happened here, and everyone hopes it never does, but as Monroe County Sheriff Bill Bivens said, "We live in a modern world and need to be ready."

Members of Monroe County law enforcement and the local school systems met Monday to discuss how to make schools safer, with one option being emergency radios in all the schools.

"All the schools do have radios," Monroe County E911 Director Clara Hitson said, "but they're not uniform (in their make) and a lot of them are hand held radios, which don't always get out, especially in the schools in the mountain areas."

Hitson stressed that 911 is the best way to get help in an emergency, but a radio tied into the 911 system would allow them to know immediately what was happening.

"If a student or teacher is sick," she said, "please still call 911. But if someone is coming into the school and putting everyone in danger, a radio would let us know immediately what was happening."

See full story in the Wednesday, Feb. 6, edition of The Advocate & Democrat.