SOUTH DEERFIELD — The five schools of the Frontier Regional and Union 38 school districts plan to beef up their security systems with $143,500 in state grant money.
The Safer Schools and Communities “Local Equipment and Technology” grants, received from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Office of Grants and Research, will provide funding for keyless entry systems, cameras, advanced locking hardware, and other safety equipment and technology.
The money will be divvied up as follows: Frontier Regional School, $22,000; Conway Grammar School, $30,000; Deerfield Elementary School, $31,500; Sunderland Elementary School, $35,000; and Whately Elementary School, $25,000.
Darius Modestow, superintendent of schools, said he is pleased with the successful applications and opportunity to improve the school districts’ infrastructure. He mentioned Scott Paul, the districts’ director of technology, conducted the lion’s share of the application work before each school principal and each town’s police and fire chiefs signed off. Each school had to apply separately.
He mentioned a few of the schools have already started to solicit quotes for the work “because we were already going in this direction.”
“It’s very exciting,” Modestow said. “These are areas we need to improve in all our buildings.”
Modestow explained metal keys would become obsolete and authorized personnel would enter schools by using key fobs, electronic devices that unlock doors using magnetic readers. He said keys would likely be discarded.
Local schools are essentially community centers, Modestow said, and the days of allowing anyone to stroll in are long gone. Keyless entry systems, he said, allow administrators to secure school buildings and limit the access, without stopping the public from using them.
Modestow said someone’s device can be deactivated if that person becomes disgruntled, or if the device is lost or stolen. The school can also be shut down at any time by deactivating all key fobs.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.