New Trier officials talk safety and security; board OK’s replacement of dozens of security cams

As New Trier High School administrators and staff work to maintain and improve the district’s safety plans, it’s important to remember that emergency preparedness goes beyond responding to active shooter-based lockdowns, District Superintendent Paul Sally told district board members at their Monday, Dec. 9 meeting.

Sally, who introduced an update to the district’s security planning, said “there are far more events” than active shooter situations. Others include fires, civil disturbances, severe weather such as winter storms or tornadoes, and a student with suicidal ideations, he said.

Emergency preparedness is the final of four safety- and security-oriented plan layers the district works on, Sally said. (The first three, which staff initially reviewed with board members in September, outline ways to support students and staff in order to prevent problems, how the district works with community partners such as area police departments and mental health organizations, plus physical plant safety along with daily safety procedures.)

In his written report, Sally said the district will regularly review emergency procedures before the start of each school year. It will also review them after drills or actual events.

Denise Dubravec, the Winnetka campus principal, told board members that district staff recently trained on New Trier’s new Raptor Alert app. She said staff have used the app three or four times, adding, “We’re really making great progress” in becoming comfortable with its use.

According to Dubravec, the district’s data analysis team has entered information into Raptor that allows teachers to ascertain whether students are present, officially absent or missing during an emergency. That kind of accountability can help ensure the eventual reunification of staff and students following an incident, she said.

She said the district’s roughly 120-page emergency operations plan has 65 sections, covering everything from basic emergency procedures to assigning staff responsibilities in each type of emergency, outlining safety tests and drills and setting up crisis communications processes that outline who gets what information in or after emergency situations. 

The plan also has three versions — one each for staff, for each school, and for the public, since some aspects of the plan shouldn’t be shared with everyone, she said. A second draft of the operations plan should be completed sometime in the spring. She said other tasks on the district’s to-do list include continued safety and emergency training and professional development.

When board member Courtney McDonough asked about how New Trier’s planning compares with other area school districts, Dubravec said many are using the same standard response protocol but aren’t as far along in aspects such as use of the Raptor app. 

In response to questions about how the district coordinates communication between it and the elementary school districts from which New Trier draws students, Sally said such communication is very important: “If something happens here, there are many siblings in the other schools and other elementary districts, and if things happen in the elementary districts, there are kids here that have siblings there.”

Board members also asked how the district’s ongoing renovation needs affect security; Chief Technology Officer Michael Marassa said security is always part of facilities planning. 

Board members later approved a $201,418 bid award to the nationally based Allied Universal security company for the replacement of 76 security cameras at the Northfield and Winnetka campuses. District Communications Director Niki Dizon said Wednesday the cameras will replace those that have reached the end of their useful life, which she said normally lasts about 15 years.

The district’s security update, including Sally’s memo and the Power Point presentation by Dubravec, are available through the Dec. 9 board agenda.

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