After the country’s 17th school shooting of the year earlier in the day, security was on the mind of parents in the Palmerton Area School District at Tuesday night’s board meeting.

Palmerton Superintendent Scot Engler said an outside company was on site last week to discuss various potential improvements with regard to safety.

“Without going into specifics, they did look at things like access points to the buildings and we’re hoping that what comes out of this is recommendations to take to the board for substantial improvements to our facilities in the area of security.”

The groundwork has also been laid for the establishment of a school district police force.

Engler said the district is currently discussing budget revisions to include the numbers it would take to implement the plan.

Palmerton resident Jeff Henry asked if the district was trying to reach out to students to help them understand how bullying and exclusion can push someone to commit such an act.

“We recently did a full-scale administration and guidance review to talk about any concerns with regard to specific student issues,” Engler said.

“We do understand this is a multipronged issue.”

Engler said Palmerton has embraced positive support clubs for its students such as Aevidum, which translates to “I’ve got your back.”