DISD May Spend $2.5 Million On Elementary Security Upgrades
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees has a campus security proposal on the table that is poised to make a monumental shift in campus security on 150 elementary school campuses.
The proposal would cost millions if approved but it appears the board is ready to spend the money.
The board could spend 2.5 million dollars in security upgrades for the elementary schools, as part of a district-wide security enhancement plan.
School board trustees received a security presentation from the district's police department, and the focus was on the vulnerability of DISD grade schools.
"We need to shore up the actual physical security of the campuses, that's the most important thing", DISD Police Chief Craig Miller said today. Miller wants all entry areas to remain locked, and a installed buzzer system installed.
Richardson ISD's 41 elementary schools implement a series of buzzers, door locks, cameras... all built around the main office, blocking access to campus classrooms and hallways.
Only eight Dallas ISD elementary schools have anything close to a similar security set-up. Addison's George HW Bush Elementary, for example, employs a camera surveillance system, allowing the principal to see who's inside, but little to stop anyone from getting inside.
One week after the mass shooting and killing of children inside a Connecticut elementary school, a security task force toured each Dallas ISD elementary campus.
Too many doors were deemed vulnerable. The plan to change that status looks a lot like the campus security system already in place just north of Dallas ISD.
Primary grade schools would also receive a security surveillance network. 1600 portable classrooms would have peep holes added to doors. Currently, teachers have no way of confirming who may be on the other side of the door.
Another $2 million would spent on upgrading security cameras at high schools.
School board trustees would access funds from the district's 2008 bond program, if the security enhancements are approved.
The board is set to vote on the matter in two weeks.
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