WESTON – Otsego Local Schools is seeing a lot of changes in its security protocols.
The district’s school resource director and campus safety director Noel Crawford spent time this summer looking at buildings and safety plans and revising where necessary, said Superintendent Kevin O’Shea at the board’s Aug. 23 meeting, which was held at Weston Public Library.
Safety drills have been mapped out for the year and practiced during a teacher in-service last week, and the Run-Hide-Fight protocols have been reviewed.
Crawford is identifying any gaps or quality issues with the camera systems in the schools.
The district completed an overhaul of the door fob system, which requires stricter access permission.
“In the older system, so many fobs were handed out over the years and how they got entered into the computer, we didn’t necessarily know sometimes when someone swiped a fob to get into our building or who had them,” O’Shea said.
He said now there is 100% control over who has access to the buildings and the goal is to eventually start using a security badge.
Eventually doors will be added to the fob system, including weight rooms and server rooms.
“If they’re not given permission, they won’t have access,” O’Shea said.
The phone and paging systems were upgraded, and the district has purchased 180 handheld radios to fill in communication gaps.
Staff has been trained on the protocols for the radios and how they should be used, O’Shea said.
Cyber-security includes the update to two-factor authentication to make it more complex to get into the district’s network.
A first aid and tourniquet kit will be placed in every classroom
“People walked away knowing that a lot of changes were coming from a safety perspective … and feel really good about where we are heading and what we have on our campus,” O’Shea said about the in-service training.
The district is using a $300,000 safety grant to make the improvements.
Also at the meeting, the board:
Learned from Shelen Stevens, director of the Weston Public Library, that the library has purchased solar glasses for the entire district. A total eclipse will happen in April.
Awarded Meghan Newlin with a one-year contract as music assistant.
Heard board member Mark Tolles repeat his opposition to allowing dogs in the schools.
A full-time school facility dog and a part-time therapy dog have been introduced at the elementary this year.
Elementary Principal Katrina Baughman said three families expressed concerns.
She said she has reached out to the families. One child has a fear of dogs and that will be addressed.
The families were open to the dogs but wanted to know the procedures and protocols, she said.
Tolles said once allergies set in, no learning will take place, Tolles said.
“I 100% understand the argument about fear and allergies,” O’Shea said. “We are addressing those on a case-by-case basis.”
