School officials in Boothbay, Wiscasset and other Midcoast towns are upgrading school building security features and are hoping to get reimbursed for the costs through “short fused” Homeland Security funding that will expire April 12. 

Key school personnel must have passed National Incident Management System (NIMS) training in order for each school to receive up to $7,300 in the funding, according to a recent press release from the state. County Emergency Management Agency directors are facilitating the process.

School districts must apply for the grant by April 22 and the money has to be spent by July 31, according to the press release. Through the Maine Emergency Management Agency, the grants will pay for the purchase and installation of four key items: remote entry control systems, panic buttons, knox boxes that provide first responders keys to doors in the absence of key-holders during an emergency and exterior door numbering.

Following the school shooting in Connecticut in December, there has been a heightened awareness among staff and many discussions about how to make improvements at the schools. 

The Woolwich Central School is new this year, outfitted with state of the art technology and security features that officials in other nearby schools are still trying to get installed, such as a remote entry system. Principal Thomas Soule said he was not aware of the Homeland Security funding, but said his staff is still alert to unusual activities.

Staff inside the building remotely unlock a front entrance door to allow accepted visitors through. All visitors must wear a badge while at the school. Security cameras monitor this activity. Students, teachers and staff are trained to notify the administrative office if they see a visitor who does not have a badge, said Soule.

Sometime last week an unknown visitor was spotted outside the school building taking photographs. Soule said a staff member thought this stranger was taking photographs of students and alerted the office. Staff immediately responded to the situation and discovered the photographer was from a state department who was taking photographs of the school roof, to examine needed repairs. 

“It hit me right between the eyes,” Soule said, adding that people on staff are much more alert to security issues. 

Security cameras, panic buttons and other features are not going to stop someone determined to get inside the building, he said, but the school has trained staff and a long-standing and rehearsed crisis plan. 

All schools in Regional School Unit 1 may not have the same features Woolwich Central does, but according to staff at the superintendent's office, they are discussing what each school needs in order to acquire the Homeland Security funds.

Eileen King, superintendent of the Rocky Channels School District (Alternative Organizational Structure 98), said she has already applied for the grant. All of the AOS 98 schools (Boothbay Region High School, Boothbay Region Elementary School, Southport Central School, Edgecomb Eddy School and Georgetown Central School) are NIMS certified, she said.

“We are desperately in need of grant funding to do this work in our schools,” she said. “We do not have the money. Any funds we can get to enhance security are welcome.” King said she, board members and the AOS administration have worked diligently since December to address these issues, though school security was always part of their work.

David Benner, AOS 98 Director of Planning Operations, Maintenance and Safety agreed they had always considered safety. In addition to having passed the NIMS certification course, Benner has served as a firefighter for more than 30 years, was the Boothbay Harbor EMA Director for a number of years and has had a career in law enforcement.

Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December, however, he and the school district's administrative team met to discuss what schools had in place, and discovered they did not have much.

“We always had an open-door policy,” he said. They came up with a list of items needed at all of the schools, in collaboration with local fire chiefs, EMA directors, police department staff. 

Benner created a spreadsheet of items needed for the schools and found that the total cost would be about $265,000 for all of these items. AOS 98 could get as much as $36,500 for the security upgrades, Benner said. King has also applied for a grant through the Elizabeth Anna Leach Charitable Trust and have also applied for a grant to help fund a school resource officer.

The school district has already secured loans for contracted work, beginning with new locks on the doors at Edgecomb Eddy School, according to Benner. They also plan to install remote entry systems at several doors at Boothbay Elementary. They are awaiting board approval with the Georgetown Central School and he will get together with town selectmen there. 

“We feel pretty good about all this stuff,” he said. “I suspect that by the end of the school year this work will be complete.”

King said that to make these changes, it is a balance. She said they want to enhance a positive culture of learning, while also maintaining a safe and secure environment. 

John Merry, Director of Operations and Maintenance at Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12, said he and the staff there have always had a concern about controlling access into the buildings. But the school shooting in Connecticut spurred more action on the issue.

“We were like Boothbay; we kept our doors unlocked before the Sandy Hook tragedy,” he said, “But security has been something we have been improving upon over time.”

Merry and school staff are increasing outside lighting and securing entrances in the first phase of a multi-phase security project. Among their list of needed items was to increase the number of exterior security cameras and to boost lighting on the grounds outside main entrances. 

Merry said each site has been good about keeping exit doors secure, but, “Like a lot of things, it takes a tragedy to get people to act.” 

Merry said board members and staff have been talking about security extensively. The board, staff and administration, everybody seems to be engaged at this point, he said.