District 34 Making School Security Upgrades

The following is from Glenview School District 34:

In an effort to improve the safety and security of our students, District 34 is continuing to evaluate its emergency protocols and implement new measures at all school and district buildings.

During the September 15 Board of Education meeting, Director of Operations Justin Attaway and Westbrook Elementary School Principal Courtney Nordstrom discussed the progress of these new measures, many of which have already been completed or will be completed by the end of the 2014-15 school year.

“Following the unfortunate incident that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, District 34 immediately began reviewing its crisis plans with local police and fire departments and developed recommendations of how we can further enhance our efforts. While we are pleased many of these recommendations are now in effect, Courtney and I understand that we must continue to evaluate what more can be done to protect the safety and security of our students and staff,” Attaway said.

In addition to the evaluation by Glenview Police and Fire Departments, the district also worked with a security consultant and collected safety and security data from a variety of sources including parent perceptions, focus groups, school community committees and building safety-assessment conducted by safety and security experts.

Some of the changes that resulted and have already gone into effect include the changing of all classroom door locks to a push button lock that can be accessed from the inside and the implementation of a new two-way radio system that provides clearer, more immediate communication amongst staff. All current AED devices were also replaced and additional AED devices were supplied to buildings as needed.

Looking ahead, Attaway said he is working in conjunction with Nordstrom on developing a district-wide emergency manual that fully documents many of the procedures that are currently in practice as well as guides for additional emergency scenarios. One of the goals of the manual is to create a more consistent, systematic approach to emergency and crisis situations across the district.

It is expected that the manual will be complete by end of Winter Break and fully implemented once each building has undergone necessary training. However, due to the confidentiality of information the manuals will contain, they will not be available for public viewing.

“Although internally we do have protocols in place and often perform different emergency drills that are in compliance with Illinois School Code, this further documents what those plans are, giving our staff a place to reference and better prepare themselves should an emergency strike,” Attaway said. “There will be a crisis team at every school, with all members trained and fully versed on the procedures outlined in this emergency plan prior to implementation.”

“The new emergency plan helps D34 be more consistent in emergency response at the building and district level. It enhances our communication plans as well,” Nordstrom added.

In addition to the implementation of the emergency plan, the district will also be re-keying all doors based on a tiered system that outlines different levels of access for each employee and replacing all security cameras. These improvements are expected to be complete by the end of the 2014-15 school year.