KENOSHA, WI— Calls for reviewing safety protocols and adding safety improvements district wide were announced on Wednesday by the Kenosha Unified School District.
This comes one week after a middle school student attempted to enter Roosevelt Elementary School with two suspicious bags that were later revealed by authorities to be replica airsoft guns and a replica airsoft rifle.
The middle school student was eventually charged for making terroristic threats, but the school district is taking measures to ensure that all students are safe from and external threat.
The district has in effect begun an internal review of all it’s safety protocols and areas of improvement. The district also announced that it would be installing new camera monitors at offices across school district buildings.
To double down on security, the district will be hiring part-time school entrance monitors at the seven schools currently without controlled entrances. These individuals would be stationed at main entrances to escort visitors screened by office staff to their destinations.
As part of it’s efforts to prevent any safety issues in the future, the district is proposing more than $13 million dollars in safety infrastructure be added to the district-wide referendum on February 18th.
Items such as controlled entrances at remaining schools, updating cameras, replacing exterior doors, installing shatter-resistant window film, and adding more card readers would be added to remaining district buildings.
“This recent incident highlights the need to address safety within our schools. We are making it a priority to address all areas we can at this time because ensuring a safe environment for our students and staff is not only essential–it is our top priority,” said KUSD Superintendent Dr. Jeff Weiss. “If these proposed safety and security enhancements are included in the upcoming referendum, we will look to our community for support at the polls in February to make these vital changes a reality.”
