New crisis protocols in place at Gateway School District

The first day of classes for Gateway School District students in Monroeville is Thursday, and safety was top of mind at this week’s school board meeting.

Superintendent Guy Rossi discussed standard response protocol, which he described as a new language that the district is using to distinguish crisis situations, detail the level of severity and how students and teachers should respond.

The district adopted the protocol suggested by the I Love U Guys Foundation, which was started by Ellen and John-Michael Keyes after their daughter was killed Sept. 27, 2006, in a Colorado school shooting. On that day Emily sent two text messages — one to her mother, Ellen, “I love u guys. K,” and to her father, John-Michael, “I love you guys.”

The new protocol includes:

• Hold: Followed by the directive “In Your Room or Area” is used when hallways need to be kept clear of occupants. Examples include a fight or medical emergency.

• Secure: Followed by the directive “Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors” is used to safeguard people within the building. Examples include violence or criminal activity in the immediate neighborhood, or a dangerous animal in the playground.

• Lockdown: Followed by “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” is used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place if a threat is inside the building. Examples include parental custody disputes, intruders or an active assailant.

• Evacuate: Followed by a location, the directive is used to move people in or out of the building. Examples include power outage, gas leak or bomb threat.

• Shelter: Followed by hazard specifics and safety strategy. Examples include tornadoes, earthquakes, hazardous materials situations or other threats.

In addition, a new app, CrisisGo, is being introduced to help the schools communicate quickly with otherwise hard-to-reach faculty, such as substitute teachers. Assistant Superintendent Dennis Chakey said that the app could be downloaded to the employee’s cell phone or a school-issued device.

Chakey also wants parents to be aware of the district’s cell phone policy:

Phone storage: At the beginning of each class, students must place their phones in a secure location designated by the teacher. Phones will remain secured until the teacher gives permission for retrieval.

In-class use: Phones must stay out of sight during instruction unless the teacher explicitly allows their use. Teachers will provide specific times when phones may be used.

Audio devices: Headphones, AirPods and earbuds are not allowed during instructional time. Exceptions may be made for students with documented accommodations or at teacher discretion.

Behavioral expectations: Students are expected to manage their phone use responsibly.

The high school will dismiss students 15 minutes early the first three days of instruction in order to allow for travel time to the middle and elementary schools.

Students should be at their bus stops 10 minutes before the designated pickup time. An adult needs to accompany all kindergarten and first grade students at pickup and drop off.

Parents and guardians can call the bus garage at 412.646.4711. Gateway Transportation can be reached at 412.373.5728 or transportation@gatewayk12.org.

Additional action

Also during the meeting, the board discussed two items from previous meetings:

• Gateway is short one food service cargo vehicle. The board previously tabled a motion to obtain formal bids for a new vehicle at the June 16 and July 14 board meetings.

Director Jack Bova expressed his frustration that the board hasn’t been given adequate reasoning for the need for a temperature-controlled vehicle.

Director Donna Burns asked to see the line item on the budget. Business Manager Mike Zourelias reiterated that the funds for a new van – as well as auto insurance – would come from the food service budget, which is separate from the district budget.

Vice President Valerie Warning made a motion to obtain formal bids for both a refrigerated and nonrefrigerated van for price comparison, which was agreed upon by a unanimous vote of 9-0.

• The board continued to discuss the need for a new digital scoreboard for the sports complex gymnasium.

At the July 14 meeting, Athletic Director Don Holl said that a ScoreVision scoreboard – a cost of roughly $153,000 – would be given to the district free of charge, although they would have to pay for the software at a cost of $7,500 per year.

ScoreVision would seek businesses to advertise and would then take a percentage of those funds. If Gateway brings in a certain amount in advertising dollars, the software cost would be waived for the year. ScoreVision will honor any current advertising agreements that Gateway has in place.

Director Robin Mungo asked who would foot the bill for any repairs, while director Cheryl Boise wanted to know if there was a warranty.

“It’s just not a critical purchase,” Boise added.

Holl said the equipment is new and comes with a warranty, although he was unsure of the length.

Bova asked the district to get quotes from other companies for comparison.

Holl said that he has spoken with other companies such as Watchfire and OES scoreboard, though they do not provide the same deal with advertising.

“It’s hard to get a quote when no one else is doing it this way,” Holl said.

Burns said she is still waiting to hear how much the initial installation will cost, and if that can be done in-house.

Rossi stated that he would like to invite ScoreVision, as well as other companies, to Gateway for presentations. The board voted unanimously to retable the scoreboard item.