Security Installments Taking Place At Putnam Schools

Perimeter security installments have begun at several Putnam County schools.

Deputy Director of Schools Corby King said many schools will receive concrete physical barriers.

“Some are receiving the ball-type barriers like you see when you go in at Target. Some are getting the pole barriers…some of the poles that you can remove when you go in, depending on where you’re putting them,” King said. “We just allocated that to the individual schools based on their school security site assessment. The SRO’s and principals worked together to identify how many they needed and what type they wanted. We allocated that and they’re working on getting them installed on an individual basis.”

In addition, schools will also receive exterior door upgrades with electronic strike plate technology. Project funding comes from a $370,000 state grant awarded to the school system during the previous academic year.

King said the school system spent part of that money on an anonymous tip line and a visitor management system.

“A lot of the things we’ve done with the money are not things that the public can just see,” King said. “So we want to remind them what we’re doing with the funds that we’ve been given.”

The school system already has a spending plan for its 2019-2020 school security grant funding. King said projects will include the installation of cell phone boosters, a web monitoring service, and a secure entry vestibule at Cookeville High School

“When you come into the main entry way, it would push visitors to the office before they could gain access into the school,” King said. “Those are the three big things that we’re looking at this year and that would take most of our funds.”

King provided the board of education with an update on school security projects during last week’s meeting.