Safety is No. 1 priority

The Mat-Su Borough School District wants to again thank voters for the approval of the $19.1 million bond in 2008, of which $14 million was tagged to provide extensive safety and security additions and upgrades at District schools and supporting facilities:

• Security cameras, which strengthen school staff ability to manage students, visitors and facilities.

• Updated locks and electronic access points.

• Lock down and panic buttons that secure buildings immediately and make emergency response calls for help.

As part of the continuing focus on student safety in the Mat-Su Borough School District, I have called on district administrators to review, renew and refresh all protocols and procedures. Emergency response preparedness is one key to school safety. The MSBSD emergency response is directed by the Office of Instruction, Gene Stone, assistant superintendent, who directs all principals and administrators, and chief business official Luke Fulp, who heads up the District Safety Committee. Stone reports the district uses the Incident Command System (ICS) model, which is the recognized emergency response system in all national, state and local agencies.

Steps taken to date include:

• All high schools have safety coordinators and Wasilla High School has a safety resource officer provided by the city of Wasilla.

• All building principals and administrators have in place an Emergency Response Plan in compliance with the national Incident Command System (ICS).

• All principals and administrators are required to be certified in the national ICS emergency response model.

• Timelines for school site lockdown drills have been changed to occur within three weeks of the beginning of each semester.

• MSBSD has contacted officials and agencies in the cities of Palmer, Wasilla and Houston to coordinate district and city agency response strategies and to use agency expertise to provide for school safety.

Additionally, Stone has shared ongoing work to be done with all schools and administrators.

Next Steps under way:

• Conduct and document a complete needs assessment at every school.

• Update safety inventories at all schools.

• Identify any principals or administrators who are not ICS certified to ensure those administrators obtain the certification within the next two weeks.

• Refresh all schools site staff on safety, electronic and technical procedures used, such as security cameras, lockdown buttons, panic buttons and silent alarms.

• Test all electronic and technical systems routinely and regularly.

• Create greater accountability for school lockdown drills. The new practice will requires drills be completed within three weeks of the start of each new semester.

• Hold meetings with city and borough officials and first responders in integrative planning.

• Host community forums for direct input by all stakeholders.

Some of the specific questions that will be addressed at all school sites are:

• Are the exterior entrances to your school appropriately secured? During school hours, are unlocked doors observed by staff?

• Do your daily-use teaching classrooms have the appropriate hardware to support lockdowns?

• Are your staff property trained and prepared to fulfill their responsibilities during an emergency? Are subs and itinerant staff brief on your expectations? Do you have back-ups identified if key staff members are absent or unavailable?

• Are you on schedule to meet your annual drill/exercise requirements?

As a testimony to the community’s commitment to student and school safety, equipment and technology made significant improvements and will have lasting safety impact for our students. The MSBSD school board, myself and the entire district will continue to make school safety its No. 1 priority.

Deena M. Paramo has been superintendent of the Mat-Su Borough School District since 2012.