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Date: 12/6/2022
HADLEY – The Hadley Public Schools (HPS) School Committee gathered on Nov. 28 to vote on multiple proposals, including an update to the security cameras. They also discussed the first reading of the prospective School Resource Officer (SRO) memorandum of understanding (MOU).
A comprehensive overhaul of security technology in HPS will begin sometime this winter, after the committee approved the proposal made by HPS Technology Director Steven Bigda. He explained that currently Hopkins Academy only has one security camera, while Hadley Elementary School has a mere four; additionally, these cameras are “outdated and easily hackable,” according to Bigda. San Mateo CA-based Verkada will supply the new, state of the art security technology for the project.
The project will place 16 new cameras in Hadley Elementary School and 18 in Hopkins Academy. The cameras will be joined by access control features, which allow staff to lock doors remotely, environmental sensors, which detect smoke and vape emissions in the bathrooms, alarms, guest check-in services and all the data from these systems will be viewable in on a single screen at once, in real time, which Verkada calls the “single pane of glass” system. The hardware comes with a 10-year warranty and next-day repairs.
Bigda said that these systems are currently in use by over 30 Massachusetts schools which have all provided positive reviews.
“I’m on a tech list for the technology directors Massachusetts K-12 schools. We’ve gotten really good feedback and really good remarks about going with Verkada,” said Bigda.
He offered a tentative estimate of $150,000 for the total project cost but was clear in saying that that figure is just an approximation and could very well change. Despite the price tag, Bigda was confident that the project will benefit the entire HPS community.
“It’s a good sized project, certainly not a cheap project, and with the hot ticket item being ‘Let’s secure our doors, have eyes on campus, let’s see what’s going on,’” Bigda said. “The goal is just to make sure we are being safe and secure and at least doing what we can to provide a sense of security to all folks that are part of the district.”
Seventh graders will return to Nature’s Classroom for their end-of-year field trip after several years hiatus.
“Nature’s Classroom is a hands-on outdoor learning experience for the kids. It is a combination of team building, learning to work together and cross-curricular activities which include science, math, civics and English into the curriculum for three days,” Hopkins Academy teacher Susan Duncan said.
The trip will take place the last three days of the school year, and will bring seventh graders to Ocean Park, ME. There will be a cost of $365 per student; students will participate in fundraising, and Duncan encouraged any families in need of scholarships to contact her.
During fiscal year 2023 (FY23), a new position will be staffed for the district under the title of SafeSchools and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) support specialist. Superintendent Anne McKenzie, who made the proposal before it was approved, described the specialist as someone who can help students with problems they may not feel comfortable presenting to a teacher.
“This is a way to have someone who can assist us in moving forward our goals around school safety, a culture of belonging and DEI. Some specific examples of that could be responding to events where students need help mediating conflict, this individual would be at the lead of getting restorative justice implemented in concert with the building principals. We are looking for someone who would respond to times when students are frustrated, may have conflict or may be experiencing dysregulation or other things that we can respond to in a way that is considered ‘trauma-informed,’ so we’re meeting the whole person, helping them to improve their behavior and supporting people,” said McKenzie.
She noted that the role will offer support to parents and guardians as well as students.
“A part of this role is designed to work with families and not just students and try to understand if families are having experiences in our system that are not the kind of experiences that we want them to have, that this individual is somebody outside of the building administration and superintendent that families can go to and talk to about concerns that they may have,” McKenzie said.
Finally, she explained that the salary for the specialist will not drain from any other projects.
“This position will be funded in FY23 through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief III [ESSER III] funding, and also, we have enough ESSER III funding without taking anything away from the ESSER III funding that we intended to use for HVAC. We have enough ESSER III funding that we could fund the position through FY24; however, I anticipate that we may continue to get continuation grants in school safety, so there may be other grant funding sources that can sustain the position in FY24. The salary would be prorated; this would be a school year salary,” McKenzie said.
Committee members discussed the revised draft of the SRO MOU and reviewed the changes. School committee member Christine Pipczynski said that the new version did a better job of specifying the SRO’s role.
“Essentially, the new proposal is much more in-depth, and has a lot more detail about what the SRO’s position is and what their position is not. It clearly states this is not to be used for any type of discipline, that this is about community building, about relationship building…I think it’s very well laid-out and gives us everything we need,” said Pipczynski.
She went on to say that the SRO will receive extensive training in order to be ready for the job.
“The training for the SROs is really intense. They learn a lot, and I think it’s a program that’s going to work out really well. And they’re continuously learning,” Pipczynski said. “They’re going to be asked to do essentially the same as what teachers do, PDPs [professional development plans]. They’re going to continuously be training so that this is not something people are going to look at and just think it’s a security guard.”
The committee will return to the proposal in December, when they will vote on its approval.