Metropolis, DCPS pronounces partnership with company specializing in safety doors, glass

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Town of Jacksonville and Duval County faculty district on Wednesday announced a brand new plan to maintain children safe in the classroom.

The school district employed a New York firm named Armoured One, which focuses on doors and glass and claims it may decelerate or prevent a shooter from getting right into a classroom.

Those are crucial factors after police in Texas determined the door accessed by the gunman at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde was closed but not locked. Originally, state police said a trainer left the door propped open. Investigators concluded the trainer truly closed the door, but it surely didn’t lock automatically like it was purported to. The gunman shot and killed 19 students and two lecturers earlier than he was killed by regulation enforcement.

Armoured One, which was founded after the Sandy Hook Elementary College shooting, is made up of former army and regulation enforcement agents who study mass capturing attacks and consult on college security measures.

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“We will first work collaboratively to determine where Armoured One sources can finest praise the training already provided, adding their sources to the coaching instruments and sources the district already makes use of,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Wednesday afternoon at a news convention at Metropolis Corridor to announce the partnership.

Press the play button directly below to look at your entire news conference.

The safety glass and movie that Armoured One invented can withstand several hits -- whether that’s bullets, someone ramming into the glass or using other objects or weapons -- without breaking, which may slow an attacker. The doorways it uses have steel framing, latch bolts and deadbolts.

Armoured One is also identified for offering energetic shooter coaching and assessments. The company points particular person experiences for each constructing and recommends the most effective equipment to use for each facility it’s working with.

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Curry stated he plans to find the funding for that coaching but also work with the company to perform school safety assessments. Armoured One CEO Tom Czyz stated his staff knows what to look for when it assesses a school’s vulnerability.

“They’re looking at methods to slow down an attacker and pace up police response,” Czyz mentioned. “How do we gradual him down -- after which velocity up the response that may cease him.”

Duval County Public Colleges Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene and Duval County College Police Division Chief Greg Burton say security and safety are top of thoughts day by day.

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

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

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

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As far as the price, it’s unclear proper now, because the partnership is still being worked out.

Duval County voters permitted a half-cent gross sales tax in November 2020 with the precise purpose of changing getting old faculties, repairing an enormous backlog of maintenance points, and bolstering faculty safety.

Proper now, 74 initiatives are within the design phase and 15 are below development.

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

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

More details about how that cash is deliberate to be spent in individual faculties could be found on the college district’s half-cent sales tax info dashboard.

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The next list of security measures is revealed on the varsity district’s website:

Each faculty has a safety plan and emergency response team.

All school classrooms are locked when occupied by students.

College plans are reviewed with staff each semester.

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

The district makes use of various major security monitoring methods including digicam surveillance and monitored controlled entry methods.

All colleges and district offices have a District Emergency Communications Community radio with direct entry to school police and district management. School Police have direct access to JSO.

All colleges conduct common evacuation drills (fireplace drills).

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

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