Mt. Lebanon superintendent, police chief detail school district’s security upgrades
Security, Mt. Lebanon police Chief Aaron Lauth said, boils down to two things: layers and redundancy. The more safety measures a building has in place, he said, the less likely it becomes for an active shooter situation or other emergency to spiral out of control.
Speaking at a public forum held Oct. 24 at the high school auditorium, Lauth and Mt. Lebanon Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer laid out what layers the Mt. Lebanon School District would be adding as part of a recently announced series of security upgrades. The upgrades discussed fell into three categories: surveillance, communication and protection.
“We look at school safety and security from a holistic viewpoint,” Steinhauer said. “We think about prevention, we think about mitigation of potential threats, and we think about how we’re going to respond.”
The district this month set aside $1 million for capital improvement projects pertaining to safety and security that are being developed in collaboration with Mt. Lebanon police. The department this summer conducted its second safety audit of the district’s 10 buildings.
Steinhauer, who also acts as the safety and security coordinator for the schools, said during the forum that the district applied for an additional $25,000 in state grant funding for the initiative.
Among the upgrades announced during the discussion was the implementation of additional security cameras in district schools. Steinhauer said the high school already makes wide use of the devices, and that most of the district’s elementary schools are monitored by camera as well.
Steinhauer said the district will also increase the number of public announcement speakers throughout its buildings so that crisis communications can be more easily heard. More signage indicating door and classroom numbers will be added as well, he said, allowing for more accurate locational reporting during emergencies.
Glass entryways and street-level windows will also be retrofitted with laminate glass. Lauth explained that while laminate glass is not bulletproof, it is more or less shatterproof and therefor hinders forced entry. Lauth said that laminate glass is considerably less expensive to install.
“That will delay a person getting into or accessing a building,” Lauth said. “Ultimately we know a delay gives us more time to be notified and ultimately get there and neutralize that threat.”
The district is also looking to install anti-vehicle bollards around building perimeters.
The district and police are working together now to assess what school areas should be prioritized for upgrades, some of which – like additional cameras – may be rolled out this year. The implementation of bollards and other hardware, district spokeswoman Sissy Bowman said, may need to be bid out.