ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On the heels of the deadly school shooting in Georgia, students in a number of local districts went back for their first day of school Thursday. Rochester City Schools, Churchville-Chili and West Irondequoit, just to name a few, opened up their doors for a new school year.

It’s always on the minds of parents, but this year, school safety is a little more present. Districts and teachers know that and they’re trying to reassure parents and students as best they can.

RCSD had a number of administrators at its schools Thursday, and its principals were out front meeting and talking with students and their parents who had any questions about safety on the first day back.

The state education commissioner was also in Rochester for the first day of school. She tells News10NBC she has weekly meetings with superintendents across the state about safety and security protocols — ensuring districts have plans in place to assess students who may show warning signs of trouble and ensure they get any help or resources they need.

“We can’t keep saying, ‘Condolences.’ We really have to look at what happened. What are the root causes of some of these issues? The one issue that keeps creeping up, and I’m sure all of you have heard: mental health,” NYS Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said. “I think the one thing that we keep seeing is, ‘How do we take those signs that we see and work with those signs?'”

Some districts in our region have school safety officers, RCSD does not but has a security team in every school. We know that a number of districts, including Pittsford, have recently done work to fortify the main entrances of schools, replace glass windows and put in intruder locks.

*A.I. assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses A.I.*