When: Manheim Township school board meeting, Sept. 18.
What happened: The board approved 9-0 as part of its consent agenda an upgrade to its Raptor Technologies integrated security platform.
Background: Approval of the upgrade came after some board members at the Sept. 11 meeting questioned whether competitors’ systems should have been presented to the board for consideration.
What they get: The upgrade, which will cost $32,095 the first year, and includes a one-time $10,000 fee for staff training, expands the Raptor Connect system to include iPad kiosks for repeat visitors, allows self check-in for visitors, reduces each building’s front-desk workload, facilitates school event check-ins more efficiently, ensures visitors receive badges with a photo to enhance school security, and reduces issues with contractors, Michael Deitz, safety and security director, told the board in his Sept. 11 presentation. The contract, renewed annually, will cost $22,095 per year after the first year.
Quotable: “I think it’s really important that you’re demonstrating how seriously we take our students’ physical safety as well as our staff safety and of course any visitors and community members who are coming into the school district,” Mike McKenna, parent and Democratic candidate for school board, said in public comments. “So I think it’s a relatively small dollar on a recurring basis, but could have outsize impact, particularly in today’s climate.”
Support systems: In connection with National Suicide Prevention Month, Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty outlined the district’s systems of support available to students. Among district programs are: a universal screening program, morning meeting and counselor lessons for elementary grades, and suicide prevention for high school health classrooms via the Aevidum nonprofit youth empowerment initiative.
Needs: A four-hour suicide prevention training system required of all substitute teachers needs updating, Soraya Hintz, a district substitute, told the board in public comments. For example, she said, the training does not include the updated 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline phone number.
Quotable: “The information was so incredibly dated,” Hintz said. “Some of the data was presented from 2006, which means not a single one of the teenagers that we would be interacting with was even born at the time.”
Next meeting: The next board meeting is 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9.