Dec. 5, 2011 Health and Safety Sub Meeting

Agenda

Quincy School Committee
Health and Safety Subcommittee
Monday, December 5, 2011, 4:30 pm
Superintendent’s Conference Room,
NAGE Building, 3 rd Floor

  1. Priority Security Checklist for all Quincy Public Schools

  2. Traffic Concerns (Morning, Afternoon)

  3. Security Staffing (High Schools)

  4. Safety and Security Partners

  5. Training for Quincy Public Schools Security Staff

  6. Security Equipment Needs

  7. Communication with Elementary and Middle Schools
    Incident reports
    Emergencies
    School Improvement Plans

  8. Quincy Public Schools Security Budget/Grant Information.

  9. Spring Meeting Date

  10. Adjournment

Minutes

School Health and Safety Subcommittee Meeting

Monday, December 5, 2011

A meeting of the School Health and Safety Subcommittee was held on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 4:15 pm in the Superintendent’s Conference Room. Present were Ms. Barbara Isola, Mrs. Anne Mahoney, and Mr. Dave McCarthy, Chair. Also attending were Superintendent DeCristofaro, Mrs. Colleen Roberts, Mr. Mike Draicchio, and Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk.

The meeting was called to order at 4:13 pm by Mr. McCarthy.

Mr. Draicchio opened the meeting with a review of the Security issue priorities gathered from the recent School Improvement Plan presentations. Some have already been addressed by Maintenance and many others already have work orders in place. Mr. Draicchio works with Mr. Murphy on prioritization and adding new items to the list as they surface. The new security cameras purchased through the recently-awarded Security grant from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office ($3000) are ready to be installed at five schools. Mr. Draicchio would like to see a minimum of eight cameras at each school, newer cameras are color and have night vision capabilities. Mr. McCarthy inquired about lighting on the Hunt Street side of North Quincy High School and this has been upgraded, along with the lighting in the front of the building.

Mr. Draicchio then reviewed the process for generating the Physical Security Checklists, compiled bi-monthly with each school’s principal and custodial staff.

In terms of traffic concerns, all crosswalks were repainted by the Department of Public Works prior to the start of school. We are fortunate to have traffic supervisors provided by the Quincy Police Department, plus two from the DCR. School Resource Officers, DARE officers, and Community Police Officers also are involved with managing traffic. Seven elementary schools and one middle school, plus the ECC have ongoing traffic concerns. For Security staffing at the High schools, each school has four officers.

For Safety and Security partnerships, Quincy Public Schools is fortunate to have a great relationship with not only the Quincy Police Department, but also the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Norfolk County Sherriff’s Office, the MBTA Transit Police, the Quincy Fire Department, Quincy Probation, the Department of Children and Family, and the Department of Youth Services. Representatives from each of these agencies participate in the monthly Security Roundtable meetings. The team is focused on reviewing and revising emergency procedures this school year.

Professional Development for Security staff has focused on recognizing gang signs and symbols, anti-bullying, self-defense; all staff is certified in AED/CPR. Upcoming trainings will include ID screening, report writing, emergency phone calls, and school searches.

There was some discussion about the process for signing in both the High School security offices and Elementary and Middle Schools main offices. Visitors are supposed to sign in and out of the building, but often don’t return their visitor passes. It has been suggested in the past that we retain visitors’ driver’s licenses, but there are concerns about implementing such a policy. Mr. Draicchio described ID scanners that do instant background checks and will research the costs.

Other items on the Security wishlist include DVR cards for security cameras, additional cameras for inside and outside schools, computers for the Quincy High School security office so staff can use Starbase and email. (North Quincy High School security officer already has computers.)

Subcommittee members were very complimentary of Mr. Draicchio’s efforts over the last couple of years to streamline procedures and make improvements to the overall security of the schools. Mrs. Isola noted that given the size of the system, we have a low amount of incidents. The High School security staffs, in particular, really know the kids in a good way.

The next meeting of the Health and Safety subcommittee will be in the Spring of 2012.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:21 pm.