School District Devotes Summer to Safety Updates and Facility Improvements in Schools and Cardinal Stadium

UPPER DUBLIN TOWNSHIP….While students enjoy summer vacation, the School District of Upper Dublin is taking steps to make its schools more secure and comfortable when students return in the fall.

Physical changes underway in the entry vestibules of Jarrettown and Ft. Washington elementary schools and Sandy Run Middle School’s two buildings will soon force all visitors to sign in at the main office.

Similar to the system already in place at Maple Glen Elementary, new windows will allow secretaries to visually vet visitors before buzzing them in. An additional set of locked doors will then physically prevent visitors from accessing the school until they have signed in and provided a state-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license.

The photo ID is scanned into the existing Raptor security system software, which screens visitors against several law enforcement databases and also track who is in the building. The creation of the new vestibules provides an additional level of student safety.

Work at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary School is more complex, since the entire main office must be moved to the front of the building, requiring the guidance of both an architect and an engineer. It will be completed next summer. In the meantime, the school is undergoing roof repair work.

“Upper Dublin schools have always been safe places. The District takes these additional security steps based on the recommendations of a school safety evaluation that began about a year ago,” explained Jason Gerdeman, Director of Facilities.

At the high school, two cameras will be installed at Cardinal Stadium so that the District can keep an electronic eye on the facility at all times. Bleachers in the visitors section of the stadium, which had been closed for safety reasons, will now be renovated to ensure that guests can enjoy games in a secure and ADA compliant environment.

Steps are also being taken to keep students comfortable during the likely warm first days of the school year and the cold ones that will surely follow. The District is correcting problems with the HVAC system at Maple Glen and completing HVAC control system inspections in its older elementary school buildings and Sandy Run.

According to School Board President Art Levinowitz, the District strives to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for all students and staff who attend the School District of Upper Dublin.” I believe we have made significant progress during this summer and we look forward to continuing this work during the school year,” he said.