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Security director outlines new locks, emergency app rollout, weapon-screening exploration and threat-assessment teams
Summary
Security Director Samuel Bell told the board the district has 14 security staff, a full-time SRO, has rolled out ParentSquare and is deploying the TapApp emergency tool at four schools, will install automated door locks at elementary schools during February break, and is exploring weapon-screening and a REOC camera-access partnership.
Samuel Bell, the district’s director of security, briefed the board on staffing, new technology and threat-assessment work intended to standardize and speed emergency response across Gates Chili schools.
Bell said the security department has 14 staff members and a full-time SRO, and he introduced recent hires including Matthew Jenkins (afternoon mobile unit), Bradley Hawkins (daytime mobile unit) and Michael Morris (high-school assignment). He said SRO Matthew Miller joined in December and “jumped in with both feet.”
Bell described ParentSquare as a digital roll call for security staffing and said the TapApp emergency tool now connects staff and law enforcement during shelter-in-place, evacuation and lockdown responses. “The app allows for communication through text. Staff can take attendance and student accountability,” Bell said, adding that in a lockdown the TapApp feed also goes to law enforcement.
On physical security, Bell said wireless access control and automated door-lock installation is underway in elementary buildings and that lockset installation is scheduled during February break beginning at Neil Armstrong Elementary, then Disney, Brasser and Paul Road Elementary. He said automated locks will remove reliance on keys in high-stress situations and will integrate with the TapApp lockdown triggers and panic buttons.
Bell said the district is exploring portable pass-through weapon-screening technology and is reviewing grants to fund pilot deployments at building entrances and event sites. He also described a potential partnership with the Rochester Investigative Operations Center (REOC) to provide real-time camera access to county analysts during an emergency, saying the district is reviewing agreements and memoranda of understanding.
Bell said formal building-level threat-assessment teams are now established in each school and trained on the Harm Prevention Threat Management model; teams include assistant principals, security personnel, social workers, counselors and teachers. He said all threat cases will be processed in the CLPS Tapap platform so teams use a consistent system for investigation, safety planning and follow-up.
Board members asked whether TapApp communications are viewable by law enforcement; Bell replied, “So if during a lockdown, it can be viewed by law enforcement because they are on the app. As far as the other responses, I don't believe there's any retention of that data.” When asked what incidents trigger activation of the threat-assessment team, Bell said social-media posts, rumors or outbursts can prompt a team activation to determine whether further action or law-enforcement referral is required.
