Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety Security topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District details Syntegix crisis-alert rollout, visitor management and ebike concerns
Summary
Officials described the Syntegix crisis-alert system, asset mapping, visitor-management rollout, AED placement and a growing community concern about unregulated e-bikes and e-scooters.
Ken Kramer, assistant superintendent for business operations, and safety staff briefed the board Aug. 11 on security upgrades and safety concerns for the coming year.
Kramer described the Syntegix crisis-alert system the district implemented last year. Staff carry a badge that can be pressed three times to notify a building responder group immediately; the system surfaces a desktop takeover, an alert to responders’ phones and a live map showing the staff member’s location in the building. Kramer said the district recorded daily uses across buildings and noted that multiple staff can push the alert during the same incident; he said there were three accidental three-button pushes in the past year. Kramer told the board the three-button push has, in many cases, replaced the previous phone-call-to-office response and has sped up responder times.
Kramer also described implementation of Syntegix safety-blueprint asset mapping, which catalogs safety assets such as AEDs, fire extinguishers and shutoffs, and reported the district purchased mobile AED units, bringing the campus total to 25 devices placed in open-access locations. The district will also deploy a visitor-management system this year; visitors will present photo identification and receive a printed badge on arrival. Kramer said the district continues to review camera coverage (Cisco Meraki is the district camera system) and will conduct active-threat training with the New Albany Police Department on Sept. 23.
On reunification planning, Kramer said the district has an agreement with the city’s joint parks and service garage as the primary reunification site in the event of an evacuation; the district previously planned to use a church site and has moved the plan to coordinate with city facilities.
Kramer raised operational safety changes expected this year: handheld metal detectors for noninvasive screening at the middle and high school, and continued annual threat-assessment team training following the Ohio School Threat Assessment process. Kramer credited local partners — Plain Township Fire Department and New Albany Police Department — for ongoing coordination, including using district buildings for first-responder training.
Finally, district officials told the board they have seen a marked increase in e-bike and e-scooter use and misuse on campus this summer. Kramer said the city and police share the concern and are considering legislative and educational steps — possibly a permitting or certification program — to address dangerous misuse of high-speed e-bikes in the community and on school grounds. He said the district will continue to work with families in the interim and that some campus rules already enforce helmet use, a 5-mph campus speed limit and prohibitions on double-riding.
Kramer emphasized the district’s safety work is ongoing and urged families and staff to follow guidance and crosswalks around campus.
