Valley View School District Upgrades Safety Measures

Submitted by Valley View School District 365U

Already recognized as one of the state’s leaders when it comes to school safety, Valley View School District 365U has added more safety measures for the 2015-16 school year including additional security cameras with real-time web-based monitors, audible alarms on secondary entrance and exit doors and outdoor lockdown indicator lights.

“Our number one goal is to make sure our facilities are safe for our staff and students,” said VVSD School Safety Coordinator Leroy Brown. “We are constantly looking for new ways to upgrade our school safety plans.”

Thanks to a state grant, VVSD has installed cameras at the entrances to all 22 schools as well as the Administration Center. In addition, more cameras have been added in the hallways of several schools. VVSD security personnel at both high schools and all five middle schools will be able to monitor cameras on a real-time basis as will front office staff in every elementary school.

“An added benefit to having a web-based real-time monitoring system is that in the event of an incident that requires emergency responders, our local police and fire department personnel won’t be coming into the situation blind,” Brown said. “They now have the ability to monitor our facilities from their squad cars.”

The state grant also allowed VVSD to complete the installation of blue lights around the exterior of all school entrances and the Administration Center that will be activated anytime a lockdown is called.

“This will alert anyone arriving at the school that the building is in lockdown mode and they won’t be allowed inside,” said Brown, who added the lights will also serve to alert any buses that may be arriving or waiting for students.

The installation of audible alarms connected to master panels in front offices is in response to students, particularly at the high school level, leaving school or letting others into the building through emergency exits.

Brown also indicated the school district has revised its plans in the event a school needs to be completely evacuated or an incident occurs while students are enroute to school.

“We have worked feverishly to put a revised student re-location plan in place,” he said. “Each school has two re-unification sites and we have procedures to make sure these sites are staffed adequately and the kids are safe.”

Several school safety projects will be completed during the school year including installing lockdown shades made by VVSD S.T.E.P students on the windows of every classroom in the district as well as placing classroom numbers on exterior windows throughout the district to make it easier for emergency responders to find the exact location of any incident.

Ongoing school safety measures include visitor ID checks using the state’s sex offender data base, panic alarms in every school office linked directly to the police department, and interior intruder locks on all classroom doors.

In addition, every school is required to have four lockdown drills, three fire drills, a duck-and-cover drill and two bus evacuation drills every year.

“Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes habit,” Brown said.