Safety and security was on the top of everyone’s minds at the Monday, Oct. 17 school board meeting after hearing results from an intruder detection audit and purchasing environmental sensors.
Dublin Independent School District, like many other Texas schools, underwent its own intruder detection audit last week and passed with flying colors.
Education Service Center Region 11 performed the audit – a random inspection to detect weak access points – which was put into place across the state by Gov. Greg Abbott after the Uvalde school shooting.
“Staff should approach campuses to find weak points and how quickly they can penetrate buildings without being stopped,” Abbott wrote in a letter to Texas School Safety Center, according to the Texas Tribune.
Dublin ISD Superintendent Melissa Summers said that she was impressed with the work of Dublin PD and campus School Resource Officers.
“It was an awesome day,” Summers said. “Our folks just go above and beyond to keep our kids safe. I just have to brag on them. The lady came down and was thoroughly harassed the whole time she was here.”
The “intruder” started at the elementary campus and Dublin PD Officer Carpenter was driving around the elementary school and saw her. He immediately went up to her and even after an explanation, ran her driver’s license to verify her identity.
“She didn’t find any faults once she was inside of the campuses,” Summers said.
When she finished at the elementary school she was sitting in her vehicle outside the school filling out paperwork and was approached by Chief Cameron Ray and another officer who said there had been a call of a suspicious individual outside the school. Officer Nanci Wilson also addressed the “intruder” before she was able to even get inside the intermediate school.
“She did not get anywhere and I just have to say our people are doing a fantastic job – keeping the classroom doors locked, not propping exterior doors open and they are going above and beyond to keep our kiddos safe,” Summers said. “We had some growing pains in the beginning because teachers and kids didn’t like keeping classroom doors locked but everyone is use to it now and I think we’re in a good place. I just want to keep this up.”
The school board also voted to purchase Verkada environmental sensors to place on campuses which detect several things including vaping.
“I’m a little excited but upset that we are having to order these,” Summers said. “We’ve talked about installing vape detectors for several years now. They are very costly but I feel like we don’t have a choice right now – it’s where the kids are.”
The detectors will go throughout the school, in the locker rooms and the restrooms.
“It also has some other features to it – if a loud noise and a fight breaks out in the bathroom, it detects that,” she said. “The administrators will be notified when this happens.” The detectors will cost $75,000 over a 10-year span.
The board approved several items already in the new fiscal year budget which started Oct. 1 including 28 air conditions for the elementary school at a cost of $235,000.
The board also approved purchasing a new school bus with air conditioning at the cost of $124,000 and a new Chevy Suburban at the cost of $52,745.