COVINGTON, Ga. - Newton County school officials teamed with law enforcement this week to ensure the safety of students who wanted to participate in Wednesday’s National School Walkout, according to NCSS spokesperson Sherri Davis.

“Newton County School system officials became aware that there was a national movement encouraging students to walk out of schools across the nation to honor the loss of 17 lives in the Parkland Florida shooting. We anticipated several of our high school students would wish to participate in this event; therefore, county officials and school principals worked together to establish an organized plan to keep any who wished to participate safe and limit the disruption to the school day for those who did not wish to participate,” Davis said in an email.

Davis said school officials met with representatives from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office and Covington Police Department to discuss safety measures in the event students chose to participate in the walk out.

“As a result of that meeting, it was determined that additional law enforcement support would be assigned to each secondary school as a precautionary measure,” Davis said. “The additional officers arrived at their assigned schools at 9:00am, checked the perimeter of the school, and patrolled the campuses and buildings before, during, and after the 17-minute event. “

Davis said each of the county’s three high schools had students who participated in the walk out with no reported incidents. She said the school day was not disrupted for those who chose not to participate and the normal schedule continued for the remainder of the day.