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Middletown outlines updated safety plan: AED/CPR drills, Disha's law training and new access controls
Summary
District safety officer presented a districtwide update emphasizing implementation of the state's cardiac emergency response law (Disha's law), annual AED/CPR drills in every building, newly published county emergency maps and strengthened access-control measures including classroom-level card access and remote disable capability.
Lenny Zapka, the district's safety and security presenter, briefed the Middletown City School District Board of Education on the districtwide safety plan on June 16, detailing stepwise implementation of the state's cardiac emergency response requirements, building-level drills and recent technology and mapping upgrades.
Zapka said the district is complying with state filing and public-comment rules and has posted a redacted version of the districtwide safety plan on the district website. He described the Disha's law (cardiac emergency response plan) implementation: staff training on scene safety and recognition of cardiac arrest, use of AEDs, CPR steps and debriefs after drills to capture what went well and what to improve.
"This Disha's law is going to teach people on what to look for for cardiac arrest so that we can actually potentially save somebody's life," Zapka told the board. He said every building participated in AED/CPR drills this year and that nursing staff led training. Zapka also said the district has revised and published updated emergency maps in partnership with the county; he told the board the revised maps should be published within days at no cost to the district.
In response to trustee questions, Zapka said the high-school entry and screening process now begins around 6:40 a.m. and is typically complete by 7:30 a.m., covering roughly 2,400 students. He described upgrades to the district's access-control system that now extend to individual classrooms, and noted staff can remotely disable access cards if a card is lost. He described outside patrols, routine exterior building searches and camera review used to identify contraband. Zapka thanked nurse practitioner Barbara Curer and building safety teams for carrying out drills and debriefs.
Board members praised the effort and noted other districts have visited Middletown to observe the security systems. Zapka said detailed, section-by-section updates to the plan will be presented to the board for review and approval, while the internal full plan will remain restricted to safety personnel for security reasons.
What happens next: The board will receive section-level approvals of the revised safety plan; training and AED/CPR drills will continue on an annual schedule and emergency maps will be posted as promised.
