GREENFIELD — The School Committee is working with Mayor William Martin to expedite the process of getting public announcement systems installed in the district’s five elementary schools in hopes of having the City Council approve the emergency request at its December meeting.
The request is for wired PA systems inside the five elementary schools: Federal Street School, Four Corners, Newton School, Green River School and the Academy of Early Learning at North Parish.
In a letter to Martin, the School Committee proposed funding a hardwired system because “changes in security needs and the ongoing recommendation of law enforcement necessitate a change from a wireless system to a wired system,” and the funds for the hardwired system were not included in the original allocation, which was $155,000. The new request is for an additional $37,400.
Stephen Nembirkow, business manager for Greenfield School Department, said the need to increase the allotment is due to the cost of wiring inside the buildings.
“Wiring is hard, and fishing wire through existing buildings is hard,” Nembirkow said. “So if you look at these numbers and say, ‘Wow,’ it’s because wiring for one of these systems is about a third of the cost of the actual system, so it is surprising.”
Martin said there are some technical issues with the letter. He explained the council approved the original request for money for a wireless system, preventing hardwiring installation of the PA systems. There was never any movement to spend that money or go into that wireless system, according to Martin.
“Technically, we have to bring that capital allocation back to the council and have them reconsider the wireless system,” Martin said. “If that term is removed, it could then be used for a wired PA system. Or the council could rescind the entire motion and make a new allocation for the wired system.”
Martin said he understands the intent of the motion and will check with the finance director and city clerk to see if the town has affirmed the specific use of the $155,000 allocation.
“If it requires any return to the town council, we can do that in the December meeting,” Martin said. “If it doesn’t, then it requires a request for funding from stabilization — then we can also do that at the December meeting.”
“What we’re asking for is to ask Mayor Martin to put forward an ‘emergency’ and it’s an emergency in quotations essentially to expedite the process,” said School Committee Chairwoman Adrienne Nunez.
Superintendent Jordana Harper said the council approved an allocation in the past, funding was subsequently reduced at the council level, and there was a suggestion made about cost savings by using a wireless system. She believes a wired system is a better choice.
“The actual cost of the wiring for that project exceeds the original allocation by 37,400.01. That difference is actually an obstacle to wiring the systems that we need,” Harper said. “This amount would bring all of our schools up to speed in terms of PA systems that are fully adequate. The technology has also improved in this period of time, and there are some additional options that are available to us that weren’t available several years ago for this same price range.”
While Harper said she couldn’t go into too much detail for security and safety reasons, the planned technology involves a two-way system. The new systems are upgraded from those where someone would make announcements over an intercom.
The new system allows external notifications on the outside of the building and additional features such as upgrades that weren’t previously available, according to Harper.
“There are security reasons for this. A wired system is a more secure system and presents fewer opportunities for someone to hack into that system, and it makes for a more reliable communication system. In the event you need to depend on a communication system, you certainly want it to be there for that purpose,” Harper said. “The intent of this is that if you’re in a lockdown drill or in a situation where you need to make a safety announcement, that you can do so to all areas of the building — to visitors, to a staff member, to a student. And this would just be a way to make a safety or emergency announcement.”
School Committee members supported a wired PA system.
“Without going into other schools’ safety, I was in a lockdown situation earlier this week,” School Committee member Katie Caron said. “A system like this would have saved a lot of confusion and stress, so I just want to reiterate this is not a frivolous expenditure. This is a safety measure.”
Martin also echoed the need for a PA system.
“I think PA systems are very important. Information is critical during those first moments,” Martin said. “The director of financial management and business manager could get together to figure out how to approach the request to City Council.”