Chatham County Schools will be instituting two new updates to its safety features over the coming months.
Both a significant update to front door security systems and final procedures for firearm detection canines were approved recently by the Chatham County Board of Education.
The district will contract with Brady Integrated Security of Greensboro for $100,122 to provide, among other things, an active database of users with key-card access to the district’s 17 schools that can be updated in real-time. The new front-door system will link into each school’s security camera systems, providing “real-time monitoring (of) the folks that are entering into the building,” said Keith Medlin, Chief Technology & Information Officer with Chatham County Schools.
“(This will) modernize the door security tools we have in place right now,” Medlin said. “This project is something that can be accomplished this spring and we can continue to expand and roll out the security features of this system.
The district last upgraded its security systems in 2012 after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Connecticut, Medlin said. They got money from the N.C. General Assembly then, but will use funds from sold technology for this update.
After discussing the bullet points of using dogs at school functions and at different points through the school year during last month’s workshop, the board finally gave the OK on the procedures, setting the system in place.
Chris Blice, the district’s chief operations officer, said a pilot test was conducted Feb. 8 at a basketball game at Chatham Central High School. The dog, a Labrador retriever, was on duty for 30 minutes.
“Folks loved the dog,” Blice said. “Everybody wanted to come over and pet it because it was so beautiful.”
As a test, a plainclothes officer carrying a gun was sent into the crowd. The dog caught the officer, using the technique it would use when on duty — coming up to the person with the gun and sitting next to it.
At January’s retreat, the board had asked how the dog would be used around children who might be afraid of dogs. Blice said Monday that the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office would perform educational demonstrations throughout the district, particularly at K-8 schools. Any students that demonstrated real fear would not be required to walk past the dog. Blice added that trainers have dealt with those kind of situations before.
The district will be able to use these dogs at sporting events and at random times throughout the school year in coordination with the sheriff’s office for no cost.