A plan to develop more detailed maps of school buildings in Allen County could utilize student volunteers, giving them an opportunity to practice map skills and establish better relationships with law enforcement and other emergency responders.
The SAFE Schools committee, with representatives of area schools and emergency responders, could ask students to help with a mapping project. The plan would use students to measure rooms and areas of school buildings throughout Allen County. They would input those measurements into a computer software program that would create maps, and those maps could be used both for school administrators and for emergency responders.
If an incident occurs at a school, like an active shooter or a tornado, emergency responders and school officials can use the maps to quickly assess areas of threats. The maps could include things like locations of doors and windows, with options to include other pertinent details like location of fire extinguishers.
Law enforcement already have access to some maps, but they are either simple, hand drawn maps that lack details, or blueprints that come with more information than necessary. The software allows a variety of features so schools and law enforcement can work together to determine what works best for their particular needs, Angie Murphy, 911 Communications director, said.
“USD 257 already has some nice maps, and we’ve purchased the software to do this for every building in the county,” Murphy said. That includes the Iola, Humboldt and Moran school districts as well as buildings associated with the ANW Cooperative, Allen Community College and the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP).
Doug Tressler, director of ANW, suggested using students to help develop the maps. It would be a good educational opportunity, he suggested, that would teach students about measurements and design.
“And it will help students build an awareness of their surroundings, and improve positive connections with law enforcement,” Tressler said.
Perhaps high school or college students could tackle the maps as an engineering project, Sheriff Bryan Murphy suggested.
Or, as ACC’s Vice President of Student Affairs Cynthia Jacobson said, it could be a project for students who need community service hours.
Committee members said they would look into ways to make that happen before the end of this school year, then finish developing the maps over the summer.
THE MAPPING project is just one area where the SAFE committee will focus in the next year or so, Murphy said.
The group met Feb. 13 to recap some of the successful projects they’ve undertaken since the committee began in 2018, and to look ahead at various initiatives they want to tackle in the future. Members hope to lay out a strategic plan in the coming weeks.
The committee’s goal is to improve communication between the various schools and law enforcement entities, with a focus on safety issues.
They’ve helped organize various safety training exercises and established safety policies and plans, like identifying and numbering all doors in school buildings throughout the county so law enforcement can quickly locate someone during an emergency. They’ve organized visits from Homeland Security Officials to identify areas that could be a safety concern at local schools.
They’ve obtained grants and funding for special safety equipment, like “Nightlock” door barricades, “Stop the Bleed” kits, Narcan inhalers that counteract the effects of opioid overdose, portable radios to allow schools to communicate directly with 911 in case of a power or cellphone outage, and cameras in every district that link directly to the 911 emergency call center.
