Secure vestibules are now in place at all school buildings in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., requiring visitors to undergo background checks before entering a building.
BCSC school board members heard an update Monday from Superintendent Jim Roberts about ongoing safety and security measures being taken by the district.
A second component of the new security plan, involving the creation of badges for all school staff members, has been delayed, Roberts said.
Originally, the district had planned to have badges in place by fall break, which begins Oct. 6, but Roberts said that schedule likely will not be met as there was a delay in receiving the hardware to produce the ID badges. The badges, which will have photos of individual staff members, will give them access to the building where they work, Roberts said.
The district plans to distribute badges to staff members on a staggered basis, said Brett Boezeman, BCSC director of operations.
Stephanie Studley, a parent to a kindergarten student who attends Parkside Elementary School, spoke to the board, saying she recently attended a Ninth Street Neighborhood Watch meeting that was also attended by Roberts.
However, Studley said she hadn’t heard from a BCSC board member she e-mailed nearly a month ago regarding information requested tied to safety and security.
Specifically, Studley said she was looking for information on where the district stood on a policy for the use of handheld metal detectors that were provided by the state.
Studley said she thinks metal detectors are an illusion of safety, a point that she also raised to the board during its Aug. 13 meeting.
Roberts said the district plans to continue discussions on safety and security measures during the board’s Oct. 5 strategic planning meeting at the BCSC administration building. However, those talks will not be open to the public, he said.
Roberts said the district’s legal counsel is working to draft a policy regarding handheld metal detectors and is looking at policies used by organizations such as the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents and the Indiana Department of Education. However, he said there is no timeline as to when the policy could go to the BCSC school board for consideration.
The district took advantage of a state program earlier this summer that offered Indiana school districts an opportunity to order free handheld metal detectors, but Roberts said the devices weren’t an immediate need for BCSC.
Budget hearing
Meanwhile, BCSC board members held a public hearing Monday on the district’s $116 million budget for 2019. The proposed budget reflects a 1 percent increase from this year’s budget, said Chad Phillips, assistant superintendent for financial services.
Kermet Merl Key was the lone member of the public who asked Phillips for clarification on items tied to supplies within its budget. Phillips told Key that gas, electric and utilities are within supplies, which got moved to its operations fund.
Changes by the state legislature require all school districts to build their 2019 budgets using two new funds: education and operations, Phillips said.
The school board will consider adopting the 2019 budget during its 6:30 p.m. meeting Oct. 22 at Columbus Signature Academy Fodrea Campus, 2775 Illinois Ave.
