Jefferson County school officials admit there was a security breach at Atherton High School Tuesday, when a WHAS11 employee was allowed to walk in through a door that was supposed to be locked.

But they maintain the random security check by the television station was illegal and unnecessary, because the school district does its own safety checks.... but we found out their own security tests are not done entirely by surprise.

Every Jefferson County school has a written safety plan but who is making sure the safety plans are followed and that your kids are safe and secure in their schools?

Also Online

View this story Survey

A WHAS11 employee was cited for trespassing after walking in a back door unannounced and eventually being stopped inside Atherton. Twice before, the station had tested security at local schools, finding some improperly left doors wide open for strangers to get in and walk around.

So if the media can't check school security, who will? The Jefferson County school system itself, according to Safety Director Maurice Risner.

Of the 154 schools in Jefferson County, 16 to 18 per year get a two-day, 300-item assessment of their buildings.

“This includes a check of the doors, it includes signage on the doors, it includes everything that’s in our safety procedure manuals,” he says.

Risner says a surprise security inspection isn't needed because principals want an honest assessment.

“They do not want something to happen to their building that would be their fault.”

Risner says every Jefferson County school has their janitors check doors, locks, signage and roofs twice a year. Other Kentucky schools request inspectors from the Kentucky School Boards Association.

“They do hundreds of them a year, they find propped open doors, and stuff they shouldn't find,” says Brad Hughes of the Kentucky School Boards Association. “There should be only one door open and that's the front door.”

But Hughes and Risner agree that high schools are different: more doors, students moving between classes, walking in from the parking lot -- all lead to more open doors, though that door at Atherton should have been locked Tuesday.

But after they got in the building do you believe the school handled things properly.

“Yes, because they confronted him, they took him to the office. He did not go in the direction that he was supposed to, and once that started, that’s when they got suspicious and they started further measures to lock down,” Risner says.

So what about the future? Risner showed us a map of the schools in Jefferson County that will get full-blown safety inspections this year. Most are near railroad tracks, chemical plants or the Ohio River.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.