Schools locking down security measures prior to opening

Sunday, August 10, 2008 6:52 PM CDT

BLOOMINGTON -- Cameras and better locks will merge with old-fashioned communication as school staffs finalize their security plans before classes resume this fall.

Last year, security threats caused lockdowns at three Central Illinois schools during the first three weeks of the school year. A dozen more lockdowns were required throughout the course of the year, mainly for written threats, weapons or ammunition.

In Clinton, for instance, returning students will find twice as many security cameras at the junior high and high schools after four lockdowns at those schools in November and February. The elementary school has had cameras since a bomb threat two years ago.

Students can be expelled for a maximum of two years for making threats, said Clinton Superintendent Jeff Holmes. "The board will not tolerate it," he said. "I hope and pray we don't have to deal with (anything like that) this year."

In other districts, workers have installed more locks, more secure entryways and increased use of automated notification systems so parents know what's going on.

The notification system is "very valuable," Holmes said, because it can help quell rumors quickly. Normal-based Unit 5 added SchoolReach this year and Pontiac Township High School will have it ready when school starts.

In Bloomington District 87, Superintendent Bob Nielsen said administrators rely on students as well as cameras and technology. "We take each threat seriously," he said.

Following a series of drills with Bloomington police, administrators evaluated each school to see where security improvements were needed and took action over the summer.

Other schools embarked in similar activities.

Stanford-based Olympia renovated four schools and replaced a fifth this summer. Starting this fall, the district will use more cameras and have updated entrances, said Superintendent Brad Hutchison. The district hopes to have a resource officer in cooperation with the McLean County Sheriff's Department.

The officer would respond to community and school incidents and build relationships with faculty and students.

"In Pekin, it was very beneficial. They become part of the team," said Hutchison, who worked in that district.

At Pontiac Township High School, a newly added student supervisor will work hallways and parking lots before and after school, said Superintendent Leo Johnson.

Last year, the school was locked down after a report of guns on campus. A 16-year-old received a three-year prison sentence in connection with that incident.

Since then, the district has added cameras and secured entrances. "We tightened this up," Johnson said.

Adding the hallway and lot supervisor "was motivated by security issues, but will help students day to day," he said.

Curt Simonson, the new superintendent at Downs-based Tri-Valley schools, may plan some "live drills." At his former district, such drills included a hostage taking and an intruder exercise.

In the meantime, the district used an elementary expansion project as an opportunity to improve security.

Renovation also was a good time for Normal-based Unit 5 schools to improve entrances, add cameras and update its intercom system, said district spokeswoman Dayna Brown.

The district renovated three schools this summer, will renovate other existing schools over the next three years, and build three new schools as part of a $96.7 million plan for building improvements.

In Ford County, Paxton-Buckley-Loda School District has made "great strides" in its safety measures over the last two years, said Superintendent Cliff McClure. "We needed to," he added.

The district secured its entryways, added a parent notification system and trained teachers. After two lockdowns, the district also made minor adjustments to its crisis plans.

Dwight Township High School, where a bomb threat was found on a graphing calculator, also tweaked its crisis plans - "nothing too drastic," said Superintendent Dale Adams.

The district has added more cameras and will add more before Christmas, he said.

Lexington schools have spent the summer updating their crisis plans and adding cameras and related software.

The district also will provide teachers "with easy-to-use crisis sheets - not a 15-page manual they would fumble through in a crisis," said Superintendent Curt Nettles.

The district escaped lockdowns last year, but lockdowns and violence at other schools produced a "heightened awareness" that all schools share today, Nettles said.