Hazelwood School District Upgrades Security for Staff, Students

Although the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings might be in the backs of people’s minds, Hazelwood School District has remained in the forefront of making schools safer for faculty and staff.

Tuesday, the Hazelwood Board of Education approved a number of updates to security measures for the district, which were included in the 2013-2014 budget.

Throughout the past school year, the district created parent engagement forums and worked with local law enforcement to improve its security and safety procedures.

Earlier this year, the school district adopted Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate (ALICE) training for its staff. Staff members, administrators and school resource officers have been trained, and Assistant Superintendent of Communications Diana Gulotta said others will be trained ahead of the 2013-2014 school year.

The training allows for those who can evacuate or leave during an active shooting situation to do so safely, versus the duck and cover or go and hide method, which was the original procedure.

Such a change in procedure allows for a higher survival rate in those cases, Gulotta said.

The new updates and upgrades provide further safety for students. Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Julia Thorpe presented three levels of upgrades, ranging in Priorities 1-3, which include those that are more immediate and those that could be done in longer term.

A number of changes to be done in the Priority 1 category include, keyless entry for doors at elementary schools and intruder locks. Under Priority 2, disaster preparedness kits for every teacher and a silent alarm for each building was proposed.

The total cost for Priority 1 and 2 upgrades is close to $470,000, approximately $455,000 and $20,000, respectively. A lot of the funding would be covered by grants and the capital improvement budget. Some expenses will be covered through the 2012-2013 budget.

Priority 3 upgrades proposed enhancing the public announcement system, installing exterior and interior cameras for elementary schools without them and keyless entry systems for middle schools and early childhood centers. The estimated cost is $2.1 million, but it will be reviewed by administrators and board members again in 2014.

Following the shooting in December, Superintendent Grayling Tobias posted a message to parents and community stakeholders, and said:

“Please be assured that safety is a top priority of the Hazelwood School District. We have multiple safety measures in place to help prevent these types of horrible incidences.  

“All staff members in our district, including teachers, administrators, and support staff, are trained in emergency response procedures.

“We have plans in place for each of our buildings to deal with emergency situations, including those similar to what occurred this morning. We also run regular drills, including an intruder drill, which helps keep the right procedures and precautions fresh in our minds.

“Our school district has a strong partnership with our local police departments, and we work with them closely to ensure that our schools are as safe as possible. Our high school is staffed with a full-time school resource officer and officers are quick to respond when help is needed. We regularly consult with law enforcement about safety issues.“

Many of the upgrades will begin this month and will wrap up by the end of September.