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Committee formed in Southmoreland School District to support safety needs

By Rachel Basinger rbasinger@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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Rachel Basinger|Herald-Standard

Southmoreland Middle and Elementary Schools located at 100 Scottie Way in Scottdale.

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Rachel Basinger

Above, Liz Wable (left) with Standard Bank in Scottdale buys some raffle tickets from school board Director Jim Carson who is heading up the district’s safety committee. The committee is raising funds to help the district purchase what’s needed to make the schools safer.

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Carson's Catering in Scottdale has donated all of the pasta, sauce and bread for the fundraising event. Pictured from left are Tim Carson, Kristine Carson and Southmoreland PTA President Kristy Smith.

Like many other school districts across the nation, officials in the Southmoreland School District have been making changes to strengthen security in all buildings over the last few months.

In a recent meeting, school directors voted in favor of hiring two additional part-time armed security officers to join the full-time armed guard already present at the district, and the administration is currently considering line items for the 2018-19 budget for additional school security measures.

But a group of people associated with the district are coming together to do more, forming a school safety committee and asking the community to help make their schools safer.

School Board Director Jim Carson, who just took office this year, is chairing up the committee, which is made up of school officials, parents and community members.

“With everything that’s going on in this country, security is definitely one of the top priorities for me, and I want to be proactive instead of reactive,” he said. “Being so new on the board, I didn’t really know what kind of funds were available so we decided to put this together as a way to jump start the efforts of making our schools safe without waiting to see if we had the money.”

So far, just in monetary donations, the committee has raised $7,500 and received over 100 baskets to raffle off during a spaghetti dinner that is planned for 3-7 p.m. April 14 at the Southmoreland Elementary School cafeteria at 100 Scottie Way.

The original goal, according to committee member and Parent Teacher Association President Kristy Smith, was to raise $40,000 in hopes of possibly hiring another armed security guard to join Greg Keefer, who is the current armed security officer and director of the department at Southmoreland. But because board directors moved on the vote to hire additional armed officers, Smith said there is a list of other things that Keefer has identified that can be done in the immediate to help beef up security.

“(Keefer) had a state police officer come in and go over the schools to come up with the list, so whatever money is raised will go to whatever it is that Mr. Keefer feels is the top priority,” Smith said.

Keefer said while the main priority will be getting more armed security officers, funds raised by the committee can help defray costs of other security measures, such as purchasing security cameras, rope ladders for upstairs classrooms and down the road, possibly some metal detectors.

“When these buildings were built, they didn’t have to take security in mind, but in today’s climate, these buildings have to be secure,” Keefer said. “Statistically speaking, the threat’s going to come from the outside of the building. In today’s climate, whatever money they raise, I will find a good use for it.”

Keefer added that he would also like to see some procedural changes take place, such as parent pick up and bus drop off..

While school officials are still waiting on the numbers for a state budget and what the district can expect to receive in funding, Molnar said the administration will definitely be looking for ways to stretch school funding to include more school security.

“There are many, many unfunded mandates that we have to come up with the money to comply with,” he said. “”We’re hoping that the state and federal governments will step up and do what they need to do by providing districts with funding instead of kicking the can down to the local level.”

Tickets for the dinner are $10 for ages 12 years and older, $5 for ages 3-11 years and free for ages 2 years and under.

Those interested in participating in the raffle baskets but can’t make the dinner can visit the elementary school between 4:30-6:30 p.m. April 12 or 13.

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