The public comment period for proposed safety and security enhancements at the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District will close after February 24.
Superintendent Peter Smith presented the following recommendations at the J-D Board of Education’s January 23 meeting:
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- Contracting with an outside agency for a comprehensive district wide security audit;
- Contracting with a security expert to test the procedures and enhancements put in place as a result of the audit;
- Conducting a cell phone reception audit to identify gaps in service;
- Hiring an additional school resource officer (SRO) to be based at J-D Middle School;
- Hiring three guards (unarmed district employees with backgrounds in safety and security), one for each elementary school;
- Expanding surveillance camera coverage;
- Installing panic buttons in each school that would immediately put a school on lockdown, including automatically shutting fire doors to limit building access, and
- Installing key fob building access controls that would limit who has access to various entry points at and within the schools as well as to exterior building doors.
In Smith’s proposal, the middle school SRO would support safety and security efforts at Moses DeWitt and Tecumseh elementary schools. The high school SRO, who currently supports all five schools, would continue to be based at the high school and support Jamesville Elementary School.
If the board decides to move forward with adding an SRO at the middle school and/or guards at the elementary schools, it would need to amend the district’s formal safety plan that it submits annually to the state.
When considering changes to the safety plan, the board is required to offer a 30-day public comment period in which individuals could ask questions or raise concerns. Feedback on the proposed enhancements should be sent to Smith at psmith@jd.cnyric.org. Smith will send feedback to the board for its review and consideration before its next meeting on Feb. 27.