Putnam County Schools’ School Emergency Response Team has made recommendations to help the system boost its school safety.
The SERT team includes representatives from all first responder departments including police, fire, and EMS. The team helps the school system form an “All Hazards” safety plan.
PCSS Deputy Director Tim Martin said one of the most important recommendations was to upgrade door locks in the buildings. He said currently many school doors only lock from the outside which poses not only safety but classroom issues.
“It presents a pretty big issue for a lot of our teachers,” Martin said. “It interrupts your class every time a student goes to the restroom, every time a student comes in late, it interrupts your class. So what we’re trying to do is replace with door locks that the teacher can lock from inside the classroom.”
Martin said the team also made recommendations to get a new integrated camera system. He said the new system will allow emergency personnel to access cameras in all the schools in the event of an emergency.
Martin said they have also discussed getting window treatments on the glass throughout the building. He said there are options to treat the windows for weather, ballistics, and more.
“There are just all kinds of options for different things out there,” Martin said. “We have put up already the big concrete bollards in front of most of our entryways to keep people from running a car through whether it be accidentally or on purpose. And that’s been done at every school in the county. We’re always looking for ways that we make our schools safer and better.”
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