The Bermudian Springs school board discussed the possibility of contracting with a mapping company in order to provide increased security across the district campus. The board held a caucus meeting on Sept. 9 followed by a regular voting meeting on Sept. 10.
A representative of Critical Response Group (CRG) attended the Monday meeting to explain how its services could benefit the district. In essence, the company utilizes district blueprints and data collected by school walk-throughs to create detailed maps overlaid with a grid similar to the one used in the board game, Battleship.
The maps are distributed to area first responders and provided to top district personnel for use in an emergency, whether that is an individual experiencing a medical crisis or a larger-scale disaster.
Standardizing and updating the maps is intended to allow first responders access to the latest floor plans, as well as locations of AEDs and utility shut-offs, while the Battleship-style grid is meant to speed up response time and reduce misunderstandings.
The idea was one previously proposed by interim superintendent Dr. Shannon Myers and Jesse Sims, the district’s school security officer, in August. Myers and Sims learned about CRG during the state school resource officer convention earlier this summer.
Zach Querry, a regional director for Critical Response Group in Pennsylvania, said his experience as an Army Ranger and time in the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment- Delta (1st SFOD-D), or Delta Force, helped inspire the idea.
Querry said that following a medical retirement, he returned home to Pennsylvania with his three young children.
“As they approached school age, I questioned if there was anything that I could pull from my seven combat deployments across Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that I can use to create a safer environment for schools and other critical infrastructure,” Querry said. “What I did is, I teamed up with other guys from my background in my community with just as much experience as myself and we investigated the problem.”
Querry and others he worked with learned that school blueprints are often out-of-date or take too long to access in an emergency. They are also typically oriented to plan north, or project north, rather than true north, which can be confusing for first responders. Querry and the others in his group drew on their military background to come up with the idea of implementing a similar mapping technique utilized by the military.
CRG has worked with more than 15,000 schools across the United States, including all schools in New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to Querry. Now, it is focused on Pennsylvania, where it has worked with about 100 schools thus far. Querry said the business has also worked on the Super Bowl, the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade and the New Year’s Eve ball-drop events.
Querry pointed to two tragedies – mass school shootings in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut – as examples where better access to standardized maps may have sped up law enforcement response time.
Querry referenced after-action reports from both incidents, saying that schematic maps from Robb Elementary were inaccurate while the floor plans and schematic maps from Sandy Hook were not easily accessible for tactical team search units.
Myers and Querry said CRG provided an estimate to the district based on the number of floors in each district building. That estimate, which was not provided during the meeting, covers mapping and providing maps to area first responders, as well as unlimited updates for the first year.
The annual fee for adding continuing change to the map and updating with all first responders is $500.
Myers received verbal approval from the board to continue contract discussions with CRG.
Myers is filling in for Superintendent Shane Hotchkiss, who is on extended leave before retiring in October.
New staff welcomed
During the regular meeting on Tuesday evening, about a dozen new teachers, including a school psychologist, introduced themselves to the school board. At least two of the new staff members introduced themselves as former Bermudian Springs students.
Myers welcomed the new staff.
“Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself and spend some time with us this evening,” Myers said. “We feel very fortunate to have you. While you feel fortunate to be here, we feel fortunate to have you, to be able to have you here as part of the school community and hopefully we will continue to hear about all of the positive experiences that you continue to have this first year.”
The board had the opportunity to meet the new teachers after the meeting during a cupcake reception.
The board approved multiple personnel decisions, including approving three resignations, bus and van drivers, and one termination of an individual who was hired but has not completed the final paperwork or any work in the district, according to the board. That position will be reposted.
The board also approved the hire of two individuals as district athletic game help. Another 18 people were approved as volunteer coaches.
Finance
District business manager Justin Peart pointed to the revenue generated by local taxes.
“Looking at the revenue, I’d just like to point out and thank the tax collectors for their timely receipts that they provided us,” Peart said. “They’ve done a great job and I just want to publicly thank them.”
Peart said the district also had a significant windfall with double retirement reimbursement payments from PSERS this year due to a change in the retirement reimbursement method.
The payment alone provided an extra $400,000 Peart was not anticipating receiving this year.
Peart said the earned income tax income for the district has continued to rise despite some predictions anticipating a lower payment during and post-COVID.
With both good pieces of news, the district will likely see a surplus of over $600,000, according to Peart.
Other business
There was no public comment made during either meeting.
Meetings will no longer be livestreamed, but will be available for later viewing on the district’s YouTube channel, the board announced on Monday evening. Meetings will be posted within 24 hours when possible.
The board listed complications with the livestream and microphones as prompting the decision.
The board will hold its next caucus meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, with a regular meeting following at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Imari Scarbrough is a freelance journalist. She was a staff newspaper reporter for five years before becoming a freelancer in 2017. She has written on crime, environmental issues, severe weather events, local and regional government and more.
You can visit her website at ImariJournal.com.