Geneva schools get security upgrades

All Geneva schools will have shatter-resistant security film placed on glass walls in their vestibules, under a contract the school board approved Monday.

The first-floor windows on the outside walls of Geneva High School will also get the film. The $101,110 contract was awarded to Commercial Window Shield of Taylors, S.C.

The film installation is part of changes throughout the district meant to enhance security, according to Amy Campbell, the district's safety coordinator.

"It provides deterrence, at least a delay, when someone is trying to break in," she said.

"Time is important when we have these types of incidents," especially if people are in the building, she said.

It would have cost the district $243,169 to put the film on all the first-floor windows at every school.

The film is one of several new safety measures the district has taken. It changed the main entrance to Geneva High School over the summer. Now, visitors must use a telephone outside the building to speak with a secretary, who will then buzz them in to a vestibule separate from the doors staff and students use. Visitors then present government-issued identification, and staff members check to see if they are on any sex-offender registries or if there are court orders, such as orders of protection, listing them.

The district also installed 22 more exterior cameras districtwide to catch vandals and thieves. The cameras can be watched in real-time and will record and store images.

Campbell and officers from the Geneva Police Department and Kane County Sheriff's Department are also reviewing sight lines in and out of main entrances at all schools. For example, buses lining up in front of the middle schools obscure views of the parking lots. "We want (staff) to be able to view and evaluate situations before they get too close," Campbell said.

The board also heard an update on maintenance and repairs done over the summer. A lot was related to damage caused by the bitter cold and the heavy snow of last winter, according to Scott Ney, facilities director. Parking lots were sealcoated or repaved, and heaved sidewalks were replaced.

Board Vice President Kelly Nowak recalled touring the school buildings in the spring with other board members. "We were dismayed at the degree to which some of our assets had been degraded by the winter," she said.