2017-10-16-CEC-STM2-STM3-rpt - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMMITTEE REPORT TO OCTOBER 16,2017, STMs 2017-2&-3 Article 11:APPROPRIATE Fund Funding FOR LEXINGTON Authorization Source Committee Recommends HIGH SCHOOL Requested SECURITYSYSTEM $31,000 GF Approval (7-0) DESIGN "To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money for design, engineering and architectural services,including production of construction documents for the Lexington High School security system, and determine whether the money shall be provided by the tax levy, by transfer from available funds, by borrowing, or by any combination of these methods; or act in any other manner in relation thereto." "DESCRIPTION: This article allows for enhancements to the current security system at the Lexington High School." (Town Warrant, 18 Sep 2017) Background Maintaining security at Lexington High School (LHS) is challenging as it is an open campus, students often move between buildings when changing classes, and visitors have unrestricted access. There are 38 sets of doors that are unlocked throughout the day. The current situation requires several staff members to risk their safety to manually secure the campus in a lockdown situation. All other schools in the district have four concentric layers of security and intruder deterrence: 1) the ability to lock classroom doors, 2) Closed-Circuit TV (CCTV) footage, 3)building perimeter & door security, and 4) a strict visitor-management protocol. Currently, LHS only has classroom-door security and CCTV. At the 2016 ATM, $25,000 was appropriated to evaluate LHS security. TBA Architects and Jensen- Hughes (TA&JH) were contracted in Spring 2017. They presented their final recommendation in August 2017. Their conclusions were based on detailed reviews of the school facilities and conversations with key stakeholders. (At the 2017 ATM, $150,000 was appropriated to upgrade just the LHS CCTV system and TA&JH found that upgraded system to be sufficient.) Analysis TA&JH outlined three scenarios for security at LHS: • Option 1 (not recommended) is the status quo, which would leave Lexington High School's security well below district standard, and is not recommended by this Committee. • Option 2 (recommended) is to install electronic-locking doors that could be programmed to allow access according to the school schedule and specific remote activation as needed. Under this plan, LHS external doors would remain locked except for the start and dismissal times, and during passing periods. Teachers and administrators would have programmed key cards that would give them access to part or all of the campus. This system would have several advantages. The locked doors would deter would-be intruders. All the doors could be locked instantaneously in event of a threat. Once the electronic door- locking system is in place, the LHS administration could create one visitor-access point and make other changes to the visitor–management process. The total project cost for Option 2 is $369,600. Design costs for the security upgrade are projected at $31,000 and that amount is sought under this Article. It is expected that LPS will seek the balance of the funds ($338,600—$8,600 for management of the implementation & $330,000 for the implementation) at the 2018 ATM. • Option 3 (not recommended) would build on Option 2 (at an additional cost) by adding perimeter fencing and gating, and installing a computerized visitor-management system. The estimated 11