New Kits Will Ensure Student Safety At Central Regional

BERKELEY, NJ — The Central Regional School District is hoping to ensure student safety by partnering with Survival+ for Schools to raise money to purchase and install safety kits in every district classroom.

After starting with the district in January, new Superintendent Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder said she met with non-profit safety organization Survival+ For Schools Founder Stewart Krentzman in February and immediately asked for the Board of Education to support the project in March. CarneyRay-Yoder received board approval and now said she is working to raise $56,000 that will be used to fund the safety kits which she hopes to have in every classroom in for the 2024-25 school year.

“My priority is to make sure my students, faculty and staff are safe,” CarneyRay-Yoder said. “I want to be proactive and set the district up for success as much as I can and student, faculty and staff safety is a part of that.”

To raise the targeted funds, the district is asking parents and supporters to make a donation on a secure website page: CRSD District Fundraiser | Central Regional School District. “We would like to have all of these kits in the classrooms as soon as possible,” CarneyRay-Yoder said.

The $56,000 covers the cost of the safety kits as well as special wound care training for all faculty and staff, CarneyRay-Yoder said. The kits will be placed in classrooms and high-traffic areas around the schools including outside gymnasiums and auditoriums. The Central Regional School District is one of the first districts in the state to participate in this new program. Some other districts have implemented similar training programs and have installed special kits in hallways, which may not be accessible to classrooms during a lockdown.

“I want to better equip our buildings and staff members with the knowledge and tools to keep students safe,” she said.

“Each of the safety kits include scissors to cut clothes, five tourniquets, 10 chest seals for entrance and exit wounds, gauze to fill the wound along with five compression bandages to provide immediate point of wound care,” non-profit founder Krentzman said. “In addition, the kits contain thermal blankets to cover the wounded child and prevent them from going into shock.”

“Our mission is to save lives in the face of school violence,” Krentzman said.

Berkeley Township Police Chief Kevin H. Santucci noted that “having a proactive plan in place will increase the likelihood of success during what would most likely be a chaotic event.

“Obviously, we hope to never have to use a program like this but should that situation arise it’s never bad to have more tools at our disposal and trained people to assist,” Santucci said. “Our agency has partnerships with various groups throughout the community with one of the biggest being our school systems.”

The training and safety kits will make sure that in the event of an emergency, these students, faculty, and staff can receive treatment before the emergency responders arrive, Krentzman said. In the event of a lockdown, these safety kits can be thrown across a hallway.

“I really feel that it is just the overall climate of our country right now,” CarneyRay-Yoder said. “I just want to create a safe environment and be overly prepared, so hopefully, we never have to use them. I want to be proactive and set the district up for success as much as I can and partnering with Survival+ is a part of that.”

On May 22, the Central Regional Track and Field will also team up with the nonprofit Tackle Depression for a Mental Awareness track meet for all NJ High School track programs that register. The event will take place at the High School campus in Bayville under the lights and will feature mental health information, resources, and access to numerous mental health organizations for participating New Jersey high school track teams. Donations for the Survival+ kits will be collected at the event.

For more information, visit the Survival+ for Schools website: https://survivalplusforschools.org/.