Area schools confer with police

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By Matthew Saari

School administrators throughout Washington County met with local and county law enforcement officials last week in an ongoing effort to increase school security.

Superintendents and police met in Fort Edward last Friday to discuss the feasibility and process of adding school resource officers as well as enrolling in a crisis management system known as Rapid Responder.

“All of the superintendents from Washington County, the sheriff as well as all the local police stations,” said Whitehall superintendent Patrick Dee. “It was a great conversation.”

The primary focus of the meeting, Dee said, was on the Rapid Responder program, a crisis management system.

“Many of the schools regionally have it and we’re moving toward it as well,” said Dee.

Rapid Responder doesn’t deal solely with active shooter threats; the program deals with a range of potentially hazardous situations that may crop up at any time in a school district.

“A lot of pertinent safety information is put into this program that the police, first responders, firemen, etcetera, have access to,” Dee said, noting the information includes fire extinguisher locations, gas shutoff valves, and building egress points.

“It’s a really helpful program,” he added.

One such district that already has Rapid Responder in place is Granville. Superintendent Tom McGurl said the district is in its third year of utilizing the program.

 

This is only a preview of the story published in the Whitehall Times. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.

 

This is only a preview of the story published in the Granville Sentinel. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.