Last week’s WUSD school board meeting felt less like a board meeting and more like an open forum where people discussed and debated their ideas about safety and the way human resources should be run for the district.
The board spent significant time debating the legitimacy of a contactless entry system for the schools. This system would be implemented in every door at the high school, both interior and exterior and only on the exterior doors of the rest of the schools. The reasoning behind this is the elementary schools are bit more condensed into one building so they would be able to effectively secure the building by just managing the exterior doors. While the high school there is a lot more traffic in-between buildings and students regularly have to walk outside to get to another portion of campus, which is why IT Director Steve Henling said, “the reason this has not worked in the past for us was because these systems need a ‘all steam ahead’ approach,” whereas in the past the district tried out a system that was much less comprehensive that did not work as well.
Board member Dodie Montoya had concerns about the cost of the project, as this project will cost the district just over $1 million dollars. She wanted to get public comment on such an investment before making any final decisions, which the rest of the board informed her that this project had been available for public comment previously and even was suggested to the board through public survey a couple of years ago.
When the ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds), which were COVID-19 related grants from the government were first made available to the district a long list of priorities was determined and put in order from most to least important. This security system was ninth on the list when the list was made two years ago but as Superintendent Connie Gover pointed out, the other eight projects ahead of it have already been taken care of through the multiple rounds of ESSER grants.
Henling assured the board that most districts in the country have moved to a keyless entry system years ago and in fact when the new high school was built in 2004 it was supposed to be fitted with keyless entry points but they opted for the traditional keys instead. “This isn’t new technology, this isn’t experimental, this technology has existed and worked for many years.”
Clerk of the Board Todd Wilcox also raised concerns about the need for such a system since this money could be utilized in other ways because the traditional keys are still being used and the system is still working. Wilcox also pointed out that in three to five years the district may want to get new school building for their elementary schools so it might be more beneficial to wait until then and update them all at once.
Henling responded saying they would be able to grow the system to account for new buildings but not only is their price locked in right now but also the ESSER funding will only be available until 2024, so the money needs to be spent now. It was also noted that the new system is safer for a plethora of reasons including in the event of a lock down, police will be issued keys to the school so they never have to wait to be let inside in an emergency, or if a staff member loses their key it would be much more difficult for someone to find that key and use it to gain access to the building because the keys can be deactivated at any moment. It also gives administration a higher degree of control over who is able to access what portion of the building, as well as be able to track who is accessing where at any given moment.
Henling also said a major benefit to this system in the long run is the blanks for the access badges are much cheaper than having a key remade if one is lost or there is a new teacher. The constructive discussion ended with a vote narrowly approving the purchase of the system for the schools, with board President Debbie Martinez, Vice President Joseph Hartnett and member Allen Leonard in favor, and Wilcox and Montoya opposing the motion. In other business, the board:
* Approved ratification of voucher numbers.
* Approved transfer of Tracey Turley from Winslow Junior High to Jefferson Elementary.
* Approved student fundraiser requests. Indian Club’s graduation necklaces for $10 and $15 and candy grams for $8, National Honor Society’s Krispy Kreme donut sale at $12 a box and Skills USA Construction selling student’s finished projects which range from $5-$200.
* Approved new HVAC system for WHS Industrial Arts Building, for a total cost of $73,233, but after a grant from School Facilities Oversight Board the cost to the district is $17,576.
* Approved new social emotional learning curriculum.
The next meeting of the WUSD school board will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, in the meeting room, located at 800 N. Apache Ave.
