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Platteville board approves $25,000 DOJ grant for indoor digital maps to speed emergency response
Summary
The Platteville School District voted to accept a $25,000 Wisconsin Department of Justice grant to create indoor digital maps of school buildings that will link to Grant County dispatchers and help pinpoint 911 callers within 2'2 feet; setup and training are covered by the grant, with a smaller ongoing subscription fee to be paid from the district's operating budget.
The Platteville School District Board approved a plan to use a $25,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Justice to create indoor digital maps of all district buildings that will link to Grant County's 911 dispatch, officials said at the meeting.
"We're very excited to get this award of a $25,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Justice," said Demetri, who explained the mapping project to the board. "The dispatcher will know within two or three feet where that emergency is" rather than only identifying which school a 911 call came from.
Administrators said the grant covers setup and training in the first year; the district owns the maps afterward. A smaller annual subscription fee to maintain live maps will be paid from the district's normal operational budget. Board members were told the system should be in place by the start of the next school year, on or about Sept. 1.
In response to questions about how on-site responders will reach a reported location, Demetri described current practice and how the mapping helps: "Before they even get to the school, they know the general area of where to go versus guessing when they drive up to the front door." He added that school staff will still help guide emergency personnel to the exact door or entry point.
The board approved the project by voice vote (motion by Ben, second by Kesha). The item passed as presented, and administrators will move forward with grant setup and the first-year implementation tasks.
The project is intended to reduce response times in emergencies by providing dispatchers and responding officers with precise interior locations tied to 911 calls. Ongoing subscription costs were not quantified during the presentation and were described as a line-item to be covered in future operating budgets.
