Winnacunnet Starts $57K Project to Upgrade School Security

Winnacunnet High School will be undergoing another series of security transformations as administrators work to maximize the safety of the students and staff within the building.

The Winnacunnet School Board unanimously signed off Tuesday on Principal Bill McGowan's plan to spend just under $14,000 to perform the first five items on a list of planned physical and system security upgrades — the need for which was found during lockdown drills conducted both before and after December's , according to McGowan.

"To do some of the things we need to do, we can’t do with the existing software unless we upgrade it," said McGowan. "With the recent tragedy last month, it just brought things to a different awareness level."

The $13,849 in security improvements, expected to be made as soon as possible, are as follows:

• Upgrading the gymnasium main entrance to allow the second set of doors to be locked via an intercom system connected to the athletic director's office ($5,000).
• Upgrading the security system to allow the technology and engineering building to be secured with a remote video intercom connected to the school's main office ($5,676).
• Installing five lockdown buttons that, when pressed, will immediately lock exterior doors on the various school buildings. Currently, locking the doors requires computer access to change the programming of each door, or to physically go to each panel and cut the power ($1,723).
• Updating security software to Keyscan Version 7, as the current version won't support the door security upgrades ($1,000).
• Installing a panic button — similar to the one in the main office that sends an alarm to the Hampton Police Department — in the athletic director's office in case of an emergency ($450).

McGowan will also request, at a future date, for approval for a roughly $40,000 renovation to the main entrance in order to funnel all visitors directly into a waiting room inside the main office. Currently, staff must buzz in visitors through the main doors, although visitors could then bypass the adjacent main office and gain direct access to the school if they so desired, according to McGowan.

McGowan said the renovations would have to be completed over the summer, and he said there is no firm cost yet because the design plans haven't yet been drafted.

McGowan said he could draw from this year's team leader stipends account — which is roughly $15,000 to $20,000 right now because residents added funding to the controversial line item during the 2012 deliberative session — to pay for the first five upgrades. The school board agreed to use that money in the short term to fund the upgrades, although part of Tuesday's motion for approval included a condition that the school try to recoup that money using the school's expendable trust fund.

The school's expendable trust fund is used for unanticipated building costs and repairs, and the main office renovations will be entirely funded using that money.

"I think we should look at that," said Wayne Skoglund, the chairman of the school board. "I think the life of a child or a teacher is more valuable than a roof blowing off or something like that... When you have information [about the full architectural costs], let’s have a hearing. Let's finally show what a good usage of that money is."

A withdrawal from the expendable trust fund can't be performed until after a public hearing is held. School Administrative Unit 21 Business Administrator Bill Hickey said that hearing could be held as early as March, which is when he expects designs and bids to be completed for the front entrance overhaul.

WHS did make its security and visitor policies more restrictive on Nov. 1, 2012, as part of ongoing attempts to improve school security, according to McGowan. McGowan said Tuesday there were no specific incidents that caused the policy change, which dictates all exterior doors be locked during school hours, among other things.

McGowan said "locking down the exterior doors has created some issues" with gymnasium security because the building containing the gym is detached from the main part of the school, which is what prompted the addition of the gym improvements to his list of requested work. McGowan said the need for the various upgrades was discovered before the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

There is already money in the budget to cover the roughly $2,000 to $3,000 worth of architectural design costs for the main entrance renovation, according to McGowan, and part of Tuesday's approval included the authorization to seek out design plans.

Board member Chris Muns called the five approved security upgrades "low-hanging fruit" that can be dealt with quickly. He and McGowan said the public shouldn't expect these improvements to solve all of WHS' security problems, nor should the public expect not to see additional improvements in the future.

For instance, some classrooms currently don't have window shades, and McGowan said that will likely be remedied over the summer.

McGowan said there still are unavoidable ways that motivated individuals can prop open school doors or bypass pieces of the security system, just as the Newtown shooter did. That's why McGowan said the security upgrades also have to come in tandem with a renewed focus by staff and administrators to stay on top of monitoring doors and other access points in order to prevent and report security issues.

"It's on our vigilance," said McGowan.