EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. () – With summer winding down, Effingham County School leaders said the upcoming school year is less about big changes and more about building on progress.

spoke with District Superintendent Yancy Ford who said safety is a top priority. Roughly 14,500 Effingham County students will go back to class on Aug. 6.

“One of the key things that we’ve paid close attention to the end of last year and over the summer is school safety is such an important part of what we do each and every day,” Ford said.

He said all schools in the district will now have “open gate metal detectors” which will be in place starting at open house. This move comes months after a handgun was found in a student’s backpack at South Effingham High School.

Ford told as an added measure of security, teachers will also continue using their wearable alert badges. “We’ve had a strategic alert system in place for several years now and so we’ll continue to operate each and every day on a level one lockdown, which means that all of our doors are closed and all of our staff members have the same teaching badges so that they can access  and get access immediately to administrators and to law enforcement if we get to that point.”

also asked about the new law that bans public school students in kindergarten through eighth grade from using cellphones during the school day and whether lock-away pouches will be a part of the plan.

“We’ve had a rule in place for a long time that students who bring cell phones to school, they have to keep them put away in their book bags or purses,” Ford said. “And so, we’ll continue to follow that same procedure.”

According to Ford, the district is also looking ahead to new additions. “As new facilities, we’re in the process of doing an addition at Effingham County High School and that should be finished sometime around November, December.”

He continued, “What’s really important is that we’ve broke ground and we’re working to get our new Creekside Elementary School open and that will open in the fall of 2026.”

Open house for all elementary schools is set for July 31 from 4-7 p.m. Middle and high schools will hold theirs on Aug. 4 from 4-7 p.m. The first day of classed for the district is Aug. 6.