St. Matthew School is putting safety first with its updated campus security measures.
“In September a woman unknown to our community came into the school building after hours,” said Stacy Pretti, St. Matthew Development Director. “The woman said she was going to shoot up the place. Two parent volunteers handled the situation very calmly. They escorted her off the premises and called the police.”
The woman was not carrying any weapons and was taken into police custody.
After the incident, parents and staff chose security for their next fundraising goal. The community raised $30,000 through the school auction and applied to the Fulcrum Foundation for additional funding through a School Partnership Grant.
The combined funds allowed the school to start upgrading its security system. The police department conducted a site safety assessment of the campus and identified which areas to improve.
“We removed and reduced shrubbery so that it does not provide any hidden areas for people to sleep or loiter. The external lighting all over campus was improved,” Pretti said. “We modified our school sign-in and sign-out processes and increased adult presence around the periphery of the campus during drop off and pick up times.”
And the improvements aren’t done. “We have additional funds to use. Our safety team met late last week and they are prioritizing and planning,” said Pretti. Additional improvements include ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training/emergency planning and access control on campus with increased door and gate security.
“It is very reassuring that our school community and the larger community through Fulcrum values the safety of our students and staff,” Pretti said. “It helps all of us working at the school to know we can focus on our mission of promoting the Catholic faith and inspiring excellence.”