<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">You will notice the absence of armed security . . . and it works. Imagine that.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Courtesy of the Army Times at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><a href="http://www.ArmyTimes.com">http://www.ArmyTimes.com</a></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">-------------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="maintitle" style="font-weight: bold; ">DoD schools reviewing security</span><span class="maintitle" style="font-weight: bold; "> after Connecticut shootings</span></span><p align="justify"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">By Karen Jowers</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">In the wake of the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., defense school officials are assessing their security measures and how well their staffs are prepared to handle a crisis.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">School officials have put out a data call to ensure schools are in compliance with Department of Defense Education Activity requirements, spokeswoman Elaine Kanellis said.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">All DoDEA schools have one important layer of security that civilian schools do not: They are within the gates of a military installation. But that doesn’t mean school officials don’t pay attention to security, Kanellis said.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">Schools are required to have specific security plans that include preparation, response and recovery for a variety of incidents, to include an active shooter, she said. Local school officials coordinate their plans with their installation,</span><span class="abody"> and must review and update them each year. There has never been a shooting incident in a DoDEA school, officials said.</span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">“I have a lot of confidence in our safety and security measures,” said Kim Perino, DoDEA’s emergency management program manager. “I don’t know that increased physical security makes us more secure. The plans and responses are just as important as physical security.” Among the measures in place: </span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">■</span><span class="abody"> All DoDEA schools control how visitors enter the buildings. In most cases, the main office door is the only access after school starts. Some schools lock all the doors, and visitors must be buzzed in or physically let in to the building.</span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">Some schools have guards, but for security reasons, officials do not name those locations, said DoDEA’s Rose Chunik, chief of safety and security.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">■</span><span class="abody"> Visitors must sign in and out and wear badges.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">■</span><span class="abody"> Exterior doors and windows are built to Department of Defense Antiterrorism Construction Stan</span><span class="abody">dards, “according to the local threat environment.” DoD would not give specifics for security reasons.</span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">This applies to new construction; existing schools aren’t required to meet the anti-terrorism standards.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">However, if a school is being renovated, and the renovation cost is more than 50 percent of the replacement cost of a building</span><span class="abody"> —</span><span class="abody"> excluding the cost of meeting antiterrorism standards</span><span class="abody"> —</span><span class="abody"> then the school must meet the standards, Chunik said. Over the next seven to eight years, about 70 percent of DoDEA schools will be replaced or renovated.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="abody">■</span><span class="abody"> Students receive security awareness training tailored to their age group, including lockdown procedures in response to an active shooter incident.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span><span class="abody"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span class="abody">■</span><span class="abody"> Schools must have a communication system to transmit signals and voice notifications. The system notifies staff members to execute one of four emergency responses: evacuation, shelter-in-place, lockdown or take cover. It also can be used to declare an “all clear.” Schools must conduct annual drills for shelter-in-place, lockdown and bomb threats. Some schools participate with their installation’s full-scale exercises.</span><span class="abody"> </span></div></span></span></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">-------------------------------------<br><br><div>Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares"</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div> </div><div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div> </div></div></div></body></html>