The Westmoreland Central School District continues to take steps to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff and community members.
During Christmas Break, existing access control points at entranceways and security cameras in each of the district’s three school buildings - - Jr./Sr. High School, Upper Elementary School and Primary Elementary School - - will be replaced with new card readers and more technologically advanced cameras. The upgrades, scheduled to be completed by the time school resumes on January 3, make up phase one of the district’s Smart Schools Bond Act project. 
“After Christmas Break, every staff member will be given an identification badge to wear,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Migliori said. “The same badges will be used to enter each of our school buildings, replacing the outdated key fobs that are currently used. This alone will greatly enhance security.”
The Smart Schools Bond Act, approved by New York State voters in 2014, authorized the issuance of $2 billion to finance improved security, technology and critical infrastructure in public schools. Approximately $972,000 was allocated to the Westmoreland Central School District.
The district started developing its project, or Smart Schools Investment Plan (SSIP), in the fall of 2016. The plan was approved by the Westmoreland Central School District Board of Education in January of 2017 and submitted to the New York State Education Department in March of 2017 for consideration. The State Education Department granted approval in June of 2018.
Future work, in addition to phase one, includes the installation of additional security cameras, “lockdown strobes,” which will be strategically positioned in several locations outside to indicate if the district is under a lockdown, new clocks in all classrooms, which will have the ability to display important messages in the event of an emergency, and a new public announcement (PA) system.
“This is about the district making its school campus as safe and technologically sound as possible,” Migliori said. “Safety is always a top priority, and the grant funding allocated by the Smart Schools Bond Act is allowing us to make critical enhancements to our overall security and technology plan without having to seek funding from district taxpayers.”
Additional work encompassing future phases will occur throughout the remainder of the 2018-19 school year and during the summer. To minimize disruptions during the school day, as much work as possible will be done after school hours.
“A very large component of the project is removing existing data wiring and replacing it with new data wiring in order to install the new security cameras, access control points, clocks and PA system,” Migliori said. “To accomplish this, some ceiling tiles in all three school buildings will temporarily be removed and wiring will be exposed. We have required contractors to ensure the safety and integrity of all active work areas.”
The entire project is expected to be completed by the start of the 2019-20 school year.
If you have any questions about the Westmoreland Central School District’s Smart Schools Bond Act project, please contact the district office.