Joplin Schools reviews visitor-management RFQs, radios pilot and access-control upgrades ahead of summer work

The Joplin Schools Board of Education heard a safety report from Doctor Harding on upgrades to the district’s visitor and emergency management systems, access-control hardware and two radio projects with a goal to have a new visitor system implemented by August 2025.

The district currently has requests for qualifications (RFQs) out for a visitor and emergency management system and a team of secretaries and principals is reviewing product demonstrations, Doctor Harding said. The administration is pursuing grants and other funding sources to pay for the new system; Doctor Harding said the district hopes to implement the new system by August 2025.

Transportation operations are fully staffed, the safety report said, and a new bus-camera system is operational. Transportation staff will meet with school principals for training in the coming weeks, Doctor Harding said. The report also covered decision-making procedures for canceling school due to weather-related transportation issues, which the committee considered timely after recent snow.

The district has expanded electronic access control using fobs, which the safety team reported have produced “big cost saving[s]” compared with key replacement. The committee identified additional doors that will need fobs installed this summer. Doctor Harding and the safety committee said the access-control system is performing as expected.

Administrators described a pilot of elementary-school radios. Board members who visited schools during the pilot said the radios appear durable and function as intended for one-way communications in certain security situations; administrators noted a “large discrepancy” between elementary buildings in both need and the number of radios required per site. The administration said it will work to allocate radios fairly and weigh costs before a districtwide purchase.

Two internal safety goals tied to capital outlay were discussed: completion of a comprehensive position guide for a director of safety and security (work that Mr. Hounschel has completed) and a plan to update elementary-school radios before Mr. Hounschel retires. The administration indicated that the radio plan is a priority to complete before that retirement but did not state a firm deadline beyond the summer purchasing work.

Board members thanked the safety committee and administration for the report and for work that ties into capital spending proposals.