Perkiomen Valley SD outlines security upgrades: new officers, AEDs, cameras and campus locks

Perkiomen Valley School District staff told the Safety and Operations Committee on Jan. 29 that the district is adding security staff and equipment across several campuses, including two new police hires, pediatric-capable automated external defibrillators and a camera-platform upgrade.

The measures are part of a coordinated safety push that staff say will include rekeying gates to a Knox emergency-access system, redistributing sworn officers across campuses and expanding camera coverage with a grant-funded project. Committee members were asked to approve the contracts at the February board meeting so installation can begin this spring and continue into summer.

The district has hired Officer Steve Gillen, who started Dec. 9 and "completed his state mandated training," and who will appear before the Court of Common Pleas for approval and formal swearing in, a staff member said. Officer Michelle Knab is scheduled to start the upcoming Monday and will enter mandated training within two to three weeks; after the court review process she will be assigned to Bridal School East, staff said. Staff also said long-time high-school security officer Michael Horan retired Jan. 10 and that a job description and replacement for that non-sworn position are in preparation.

"Officer Steve Gillen started at South on December 9th. He completed his state mandated training, and this coming Monday at 10 AM, we have an appointment at the Court of Common Pleas for him to be approved," a staff member said. "Officer Michelle Knab is scheduled to start this coming Monday. She'll go through a mandated training within the next 2 to 3 weeks." (Comments unattributed where speaker was not specific.)

On medical readiness, staff said all new AEDs obtained for the district have pediatric capability and that the district will prioritize placing pediatric-capable units in elementary buildings. The staff presentation said the current and new AEDs would be positioned so that the walking time between any two AEDs on a campus would be about 1.5 minutes — within the guidelines cited by the Red Cross and the American Heart Association — and that CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) conducted a building assessment and endorsed the placement plan.

Security hardware changes described included new gates that are keyed to match the district’s Knox emergency system, giving the fire department and district staff emergency access while allowing the district to secure campus perimeters when needed, staff said.

The committee also heard that the district received a $191,000 grant to upgrade camera infrastructure and add 29 IP cameras. Staff said the district will migrate the camera head end to a Genetec platform to allow deeper integration with subsystems such as vape sensors and will change storage architecture from a single centralized repository to a hub-and-spoke model with storage at each building. Staff described the project as grant-funded and asked the committee to move the related contracts forward for board approval in February.

Committee members asked whether the 29 cameras would be installed across the district or concentrated at a single campus; staff replied they will be districtwide and placed to cover identified blind spots. Staff projected starting work in March after board approval and hoped to complete installations before summer.

Ending: The committee agreed to place the contracts on the February board agenda for approval; staff said procurement and scheduling would follow quickly if the board moves to approve the grants and vendor contracts.