MM_022218

6 | February 22, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger school
mokenamessenger.com
LW D210 officials share safety ideas in wake of Florida school shooting
Jason Maholy
Freelance Reporter
A Lincoln-Way Community
High School District 210
parent was “shaken to the
core” by the mass shooting
on Valentine’s Day in South
Florida and is calling on the
community to come together
and share ideas as to how to
prevent such a thing from
happening here.
Stacey Ripp, speaking
during the public comments
portion of the District 210
Board of Education meeting
on Thursday, Feb. 15
— one day after accused
mass murderer Nikolas Cruz
allegedly gunned down 17
people, most of them inside
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School in Parkland,
Florida — admitted she did
not have an organized speech
or any solutions, but stated
she believes it is her “personal
responsibility” to share her
ideas with the board and try
to help in some way.
“Unfortunately, [mass
school shootings] become an
epidemic now, and we definitely
need some changes,”
Ripp said. “We need some realistic
solutions, and we need
some rational dialogue as to
how we can address some of
these things. We can’t wait
until Washington does something
about gun control or
social media does something
to enact stricter rules. I just
think we need to do something,
even if it’s something
small.
“These are just thoughts
that have just come through
my brain today, which hurts.”
Ripp was brief, speaking
for fewer than three minutes,
but offered a range of
thoughts including wondering
whether her daughter
would know what action to
take if she saw a threatening
social media post or if there
was an active shooter at her
school. She also asked what
the District 210 community
can do in regard to school
security and school violence.
Ripp told the board she
spoke with her daughter
about the “see something,
hear something, say something”
initiative, which
has been implemented at
Lincoln-Way Central High
School by Principal Steve
Provis.
“But, sadly, I didn’t really
know what to tell her as far
as what actions to take if this
were something that actually
happened in one of our
schools,” Ripp said. “What
do we do? What should I tell
her? Should I tell her to run?
Do I tell her to barricade and
hide and be quiet?”
Among Ripp’s suggestions
were to create a task force
or committee composed of
teachers, counselors, administrators,
law enforcement
officials, parents and students
that could brainstorm
ideas and educate parents and
students on warning signs
to look for on social media.
She also proposed an annual
meeting that covers topics
such as how to look for signs
of depression or bullying, or
what to do if there is an active
shooter in school.
School Board President
Joseph Kirkeeng asked Ripp
to submit a list of her ideas
to school administrators for
further consideration. District
210 Superintendent
Scott Tingley said the board
was planning to talk about
school security during executive
session after the regular
meeting.
School board member
Ronald Lullo said he “totally
agrees” with Ripp, and
added the three District 210
schools have police officers
in the buildings at all times,
and that students know who
to go to in an emergency.
Lullo also said items related
to school security are planned
to be on the agenda for the
board’s meeting in March.
The district and law enforcement
conduct an active
shooter drill each year.
Will County Sheriff’s Police
would be in charge of any
such emergency at a Lincoln-
Way school, he added.
Provis, in the wake of the
Las Vegas shooting last Oct.
1, in which Stephen Paddock
is accused of killing 58 people,
established a “see something,
hear something, say
something” student group at
Central. The district is considering
establishing such
groups at East and West.
“We’ve talked about signs
to look for, what to do if
someone you know makes a
comment that they’re going
to hurt themselves or someone
else, or bring harm to a
friend or the building.” Provis
said. “The majority of things
that come to fruition here are
not cracking a big case, it’s
students coming to us and
telling us there is something
that is just not right.”
Tingley said district officials
routinely discuss security
issues, and that with the
Florida incident fresh on people’s
minds would be reviewing
its security procedures.
In other District 210 news,
the board voted to approve
spending for several items,
including a unanimous decision
to spend $1.87 million
to lease 41 buses for the next
five school years. The district
will finance the lease
payment with a loan with an
Please see d210, 7
Summit Hill School D161
Summit Hill officials approve contracts to promote safety, communication
Megann Horstead
Freelance Reporter
The Summit Hill District
161 Board of Education is
looking to promote safety
and communication at its facilities.
At a Feb. 14 regular meeting,
officials approved the
purchase and installation of
exterior cameras at Arbury
Hills, Frankfort Square, Indian
Trail and Dr. Julian Rogus
schools.
District 161 has identified
a need for additional security
monitoring, in part, because
these locations are to be used
as voting locations. The project
involves configuration to
the school network and setup
at predefined entrances that
voters and non-personnel
use to enter the buildings.
Costs for each facility is
$4,000, or $16,000 in total,
and it includes the infrastructure
needed to allow
District 161 to add additional
cameras at other areas of
the buildings at a later date.
A motion was also passed
to replace the existing Voice
Over IP phone system at
Summit Hill Junior High
School.
It is the district’s desire to
purchase a replacement that
will be more reliable and
promote a common platform
across school facilities.
The existing VOIP phone
system has reached the end of
its life. Over time, the district
has noted frequent power
outages with the service line
and that multiple systems do
not work together.
In a related development,
Round it up
A brief recap of action and discussion Feb. 14 at a regular
meeting of the Summit Hill District 161 Board of Education:
•The Regional Office of Education recently notified the
superintendent in writing of minor violations at some of the
schools that need to be corrected. As such, the district’s
buildings and grounds manager is developing a plan to get in
compliance.
•Officials reviewed the results of a staff interest survey
for academic summer camps, and the district is currently
working with interested sponsors to collect proposals, which
will require approval based on grade level span and following
this year’s science, technology, reading, engineering, art and
math (STREAM) focus. Programming is designed for incoming
first- through fifth-grade students, and information and
registration forms will be sent to students and their families
at a later date regarding the camps, which will run for two
hours and last for six days in August.
the district’s contract with
First Communication for
technology infrastructure
services is nearing its end.
The board obtained several
quotes from local vendors
and current providers and
went on to award a threeyear
contract to Comcast.
Installation of the new
VOIP phone system is anticipated
to begin during
spring break and allow the
district to review and make
adjustments to the system as
needed.
Bid for pre-purchase of
chiller equipment OK’d
Also at the meeting, D161
officials awarded a $139,300
bid to Temperature Equipment
Corporation for the
pre-purchase of chiller
equipment.
The measure, as approved
in a 5-1 vote, will support a
replacement project at Dr.
Julian Rogus School. Board
Member Joy Murphy was
the lone dissenting vote.
The Board of Education
is required to follow a twopart
process involving prepurchase
and installation of
equipment.
The bid is packaged with
technology to reduce concerns
for noise. Recently,
the district replaced some
chiller equipment at Hilda
Walker School only to be
met with complaints. As
such, Tria Architecture has
been enlisted to provide vibration
isolators underneath
the units and some sound
testing and notification of
the existing unit.
If sound becomes a concern,
additional allowances
are included in the project cost
to abate it post-installation.
The vendor has been notified
that those units are to be
delivered no later than June
15.
District 161 intends to get
the air conditioning up and
running before school starts
in the fall.