City, DCPS broadcasts partnership with firm specializing in safety doors, glass

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville and Duval County college district on Wednesday introduced a brand new plan to maintain youngsters secure within the classroom.

The school district hired a New York firm named Armoured One, which specializes in doorways and glass and claims it can decelerate or forestall a shooter from getting right into a classroom.

Those are essential factors after police in Texas decided the door accessed by the gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde was closed but not locked. Originally, state police stated a teacher left the door propped open. Investigators concluded the trainer actually closed the door, however it didn’t lock automatically like it was speculated to. The gunman shot and killed 19 college students and two lecturers before he was killed by legislation enforcement.

Armoured One, which was based after the Sandy Hook Elementary College taking pictures, is made up of former military and regulation enforcement brokers who study mass capturing attacks and consult on faculty security measures.

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“We are going to first work collaboratively to identify where Armoured One sources can finest compliment the coaching already offered, adding their assets to the coaching tools and resources the district already makes use of,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry stated Wednesday afternoon at a news conference at Metropolis Hall to announce the partnership.

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The safety glass and movie that Armoured One invented can stand up to several hits -- whether or not that’s bullets, someone ramming into the glass or utilizing different objects or weapons -- without breaking, which may slow an attacker. The doors it makes use of have metal framing, latch bolts and deadbolts.

Armoured One is also recognized for providing lively shooter coaching and assessments. The company issues particular person experiences for every building and recommends the most effective equipment to make use of for each facility it’s working with.

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Curry stated he plans to seek out the funding for that coaching but in addition work with the company to carry out faculty security assessments. Armoured One CEO Tom Czyz stated his workforce knows what to search for when it assesses a faculty’s vulnerability.

“They’re taking a look at methods to decelerate an attacker and velocity up police response,” Czyz mentioned. “How will we slow him down -- and then velocity up the response that may stop him.”

Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene and Duval County Faculty Police Department Chief Greg Burton say security and safety are prime of thoughts every day.

What I need to be common is that our families know that we're ready every day. And that’s what we work in the direction of being a greater college district because it relates to safety and security,” Inexperienced mentioned.

Burton mentioned, “I might say the one phrase that summarizes all the things that we do is vigilance.”

Greene said that the district’s best defense is its college students and employees. She said she continues to encourage the college neighborhood to report anything they see that’s suspicious.

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So far as the associated fee, it’s unclear proper now, because the partnership remains to be being labored out.

Duval County voters accredited a half-cent sales tax in November 2020 with the precise function of changing getting old colleges, repairing a massive backlog of maintenance issues, and bolstering faculty safety.

Proper now, 74 projects are in the design phase and 15 are beneath development.

As of January 2022, the tax has generated more than $118 million dollars, with greater than $5.7 million already spent or allotted to tasks beneath development.

Over its 15-year life, the sales tax is projected to generate $64.9 million for the specific purpose of upgrading faculty security in DCPS schools.

Extra details about how that money is planned to be spent in particular person schools could be discovered on the college district’s half-cent gross sales tax data dashboard.

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The next list of security measures is revealed on the college district’s web site:

Every college has a security plan and emergency response team.

All college classrooms are locked when occupied by students.

Faculty plans are reviewed with staff every semester.

The district has a extremely educated faculty police department, giving all faculties direct entry to school resource officers.

The district utilizes varied main security monitoring methods including digital camera surveillance and monitored managed access techniques.

All faculties and district places of work have a District Emergency Communications Community radio with direct access to high school police and district leadership. Faculty Police have direct access to JSO.

All colleges conduct regular evacuation drills (fireplace drills).

All schools conduct common emergency and lockdown (“code purple” and “code yellow”) drills.

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