Schools

New Entry Security Installed in Half of Groton Schools

Other measures will follow in the coming months.

The Groton School District has finished installing new entry security systems at  five of its ten schools, which allow school administrators to see who’s waiting outside, talk to the visitor and then unlock the door from the office desk.

School Facilities Director William Robarge told the school board Monday that the system, called Aiphone, has been completed at Charles Barnum Elementary, Mary Morrisson Elementary, Pleasant Valley Elementary, Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School and Northeast Academy. Work at S.B. Butler Elementary is being done now.

The system allows administrators to remain at their desks and view a display of whoever is waiting outside when someone pushes the doorbell. The administrator can then speak to the visitor, confirm that the person has an appointment, and unlock the door remotely. The entry system is also being installed at doors where students enter from portable classrooms.

Robarge said Groton focused on schools with portables, and teachers and staff are also walking with students to and from portables to the main buildings. He said this is being done even when a student needs to use the bathroom; someone calls the main building and a volunteer or teacher stops in and walks with the children.

“We would not allow a student to walk between the two buildings unescorted,” he said.

The plan is to finish the entry system at all schools, then install other security equipment like cameras at outdoor areas like playgrounds, a panic button in the office, and card readers for students and staff entering buildings.

One issue that remains is the number of doors inside some schools that cannot be locked from the inside. Robarge said in some cases, the teacher must step outside the classroom, into the hallway, lock the door and then shut it.

He said he is gathering data on which schools have these doors, where they are in each building, and how many total new locks are needed.

Groton devoted $340,000 to additional security measures including the cameras, panic buttons, card readers, fencing, signs and front entry systems, and has a balance of about $90,000 remaining. Robarge said most of this money would be used to replace interior classroom door locks.


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