A new addition is coming to every classroom in Polk County and Florida, and some parents are not happy about it.

LAKELAND — A new addition is coming to every classroom in Polk County and Florida, and some parents are not happy about it.

Bright yellow and black security tape is being placed on the floors of classrooms districtwide to point the way to a safe “hardened corner” for students in the event of an active shooter situation. A hardened corner is the area in a classroom where bullets being fired through a door cannot injure students.

“I'm on the commission investigating the Parkland shooting — you're going to see that's one of the recommendations in our report,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “Nothing is more important to us than protecting the children. We are blessed to have a superintendent and a school board that's proactive and understand that you can't teach dead children. And you've got to have a safe school environment for children to learn in.”

Following the Feb. 14 slaughter of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Judd successfully spearheaded the effort to create a statewide armed "guardian" program. It requires an armed police officer or guard in every school. It also includes measures to increase mental health counseling in schools and allows law enforcement to take away weapons belonging to someone suspected of being a threat to themselves or others. Judd added that there is going to be more safety and security measures implemented in coming months, but he declined to detail what they are.

When asked about the psychological effects seeing that tape can have daily, Judd likened it to the duck-and-cover drills he went through in school.

“I can remember as a child when we had drills of climbing under your desk whenever there was the Cuban missile crisis and the school did that back in the day to protect us,” Judd said. “And today there are fire drills once a month in all of our schools, but I don't see that sending anybody to a mental health counselor.”

Jennifer Sabin, a former teacher, mother of three students in Polk County schools, and the wife of a teacher, is livid about the tape, saying it will be a daily — or for middle and high school students, up to eight times a day — reminder that the students could be shot to death at school. Sabin recently ran for a seat on the School Board, losing to Kay Fields, who was the incumbent.

“That means, several times a day, students like my 6-year-old son, will be reminded of the potential for danger on their school campus,” Sabin said. “He is just now in kindergarten and the cumulative effect of this tape over many years will have a negative effect on this generation of students. On a daily basis, it will make school feel like a potential war zone.”

Sabin said she applauds the school district for being proactive to protect students, but thinks the bright yellow and black tape being used is a poor choice.

“It is possible to designate hard corners in classrooms without the use of caution tape. By evaluating each room layout, the school safety department may find that closets, bathrooms, or other spaces are available to serve the same purpose without the same reminder,” Sabin said in an email. “At the very least, a less obtrusive material or a shorter line — found in at least one classroom at (Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School) — could be used to mark the line.”

Polk County School Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd said she and Judd were disappointed the security measure was reported to the media because it could compromise student safety. She said at least one teacher at Parkland knew about the hardened corner concept and created one in their own classroom.

“Where they used it, no one was shot,” Byrd said. “When we're talking about safe places and hardening the schools, I'm just not going to compromise a child's life.”

Byrd said the security measure is not only being implemented in Polk County. It will be implemented statewide, along with other measures she and Judd declined to discuss.

Several School Board members were in favor of the new safety measure, but were concerned about the lack of communication to teachers and administrators about it.

School Board member and longtime teacher Sarah Fortney said she has not been officially informed of the security tape, but has heard concerns about the purpose and procedures that are expected to be used.

“We know safety is a priority,” Fortney said. “The proper rollout appears to leave our staff and students with many questions.”

Fortney suggested parents and staff direct their concerns to Byrd and the district's director of safe schools, Mike Wiggins.

School Board member Billy Townsend said using tape to show where a classroom's “hardened corner” is located hasn't been explained to the board.

“It's important to balance security and public communication in a way that protects our children and staff intelligently without causing unnecessary stress,” Townsend said. “I look forward to a more thorough explanation of how district leadership and our law enforcement partners are managing that balance with this issue.”

School Board member Lisa Miller applauded the district for taking precautions, but said school staff should have been included in this process.

“If the teacher walks into a room with any new security feature that has to be explained to students, we should have had that conversation with the teacher and principals first,” Miller said. “I'm not disagreeing with hard corners. We have to include the professionals teaching our children so they can understand the reasoning and help craft the messaging to our children.”

Judd said he stands by the decision to use the tape to guide students to safety.

“I care about the lives of all 100,000 children in that school system, just like I care about my own grandchildren,” Judd said. “Let there be no mistake — if we know of a safety and security measure that we can implement to increase the probability of safety and security in an unlikely tragic event, we're going to do it. Period.”

Kimberly C. Moore can be reached at kmoore@theledger.com or 863-802-7514. Follow her on Twitter at @KMooreTheLedger.