001Okay. I believe that we are live. Okay. All right, good evening everyone. This is our regular safe schools committee meeting. Mrs. Rodnick is not available today, so I'm sharing the meeting tonight. So, the first order of business is pledge allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, thanks. Do we have a motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting on March 24th? Motion. Second it. Any discussions? None tonight. Okay. So, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay, motion approved and minutes are approved. So, the first action items on the agenda tonight, uh I guess Mr. Rone, do you want to explain things first and then we can Sure. get a
002motion to to vote on that. Absolutely. So, uh good evening um North Penn community and safe schools board of directors and fellow uh administrators and to our student rep. Uh so, the first action item that we're looking to move to the full board is a contract agreement with our local emergency medical services, VMASC. Uh this is uh a contract that we use every year for graduation and this is to uh for VMASC to supply us with standby uh EMTs and paramedics for graduation. As we know, graduation in North Penn is a very large event that roughly brings somewhere around 8 to 9,000 individuals uh onto our campus. Uh and so, we are I am asking uh for approval of the contract for graduation for VMASC to provide that standby emergency medical services um for our
003graduation. Okay, so first we'll get a motion to approve to move to a an action or workshop meeting. Do I have a motion? Motion. Second it. So, now any any questions or discussions for this one? I just appreciate that preparation. It's a thoughtful thing to do every year and it's always so hot in early June like that, so that's great. Yeah, you never know who's going to need that service. Okay. So, all in favor of moving this to an action or workshop meeting, say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carried. And the next one, Mr. Rone. Thank you. Uh so, this next item that we're I am recommending for moving to uh full board is the Raptor Technologies visitor management emergency management platform. Um we at one time had Raptor, we had moved to a
004different system um because at the time uh Raptor was uh not um had made the progress from a user management standpoint that they have currently made. Um and the reason why we're going back to Raptor is they have done a complete overhaul of their platform um to allow for a lot of convenience for our uh communities. And so, um you know, things like community I'm not community day, Olympic day, grandparents day, um all types of events that the various elementary middle schools have during the day where uh parents come in, um it allows to the uh office staff to create an event and then people can register uh through an app through the through the Raptor app. Um so, it reduces that that long line of of folks checking in at the main office. Um
005also, it allows us to have better quality control for active directory standpoint for staffing um as folks transition in and out of the district, um it allows for active directory to do that. And for those who are not familiar with active directory, active directory is essentially a behind-the-scenes uh software that does all the moving parts. Um and so, currently uh today that is a manual process. Uh and so, we're looking to be way more efficient um in the use of our our personnel and our resources. Um and so, again, one of the major upgrades uh Raptor has done since we were first with them is this active directory. Um and I mentioned some of the other tools and resources. So, um our staff is is familiar with um the the platform. Again, it it will
006look different um because obviously they've made some changes, but the functionality uh is somewhat the same, but much much much more improved. Uh so, that is the reason why I am making this recommendation um to go back to uh Raptor Technologies for visitor management and emergency management. Okay. Do I have a motion to move this to an action or workshop meeting? Motion. Second it. Uh any discussions? I have a I have a couple questions. Um so, just to understand this, um so, the active directory the uh will then authenticate everyone uh in a centralized location, right? That's the idea of the AD. Yes, that is correct. So, that yep, that will work with our our daily syncs um to to be able to do that. Okay, and then if I remember correctly, the previous Raptor,
007does it save the information so you don't have to log in like you don't have to put everything in every time or That is correct. Okay. All right. And it it will it will cross between buildings. Okay. You're a uh a student parent or a visitor who maybe you have a kid at every level, right? And you started your visit at one building and you're going to another building for a different event for a different student. Uh all that information uh goes throughout the entire system versus it being uh really connected to one building. I see. Yeah. Okay. Any other questions? Yeah, just a few things. Uh first, I think Raptor as a system, to your point on the upgrades, is made leaps and bounds from where they used to be. It is uh watching
008it being implemented earlier today, it is highly effective now. And so, I think that it's a thoughtful move uh as a system. I think the two questions that I always have in implementing Raptor, the first one is a technical one. Does this mean new equipment to buy, new things that we need to incorporate into the budget for next year? Is this something that's already in place from prior instances of Raptor? Where do we stand on the equipment side? Yeah, so uh there it's both. Uh so, there will be uh some small upgrades to equipment, um but we will be able to reuse uh some of our current stuff. Right. And uh Ms. Hauser, is this baked into the plan already or is this in a future iteration coming down the pike? Um it There was
009always money in the budget for like a visitor management system. So, there it'll replace one for the other um in next year's budget, yeah. Perfect. Got it. Um the second one is more like operational in a sense in where do you see this being used in terms of families coming to visit the building? Obviously, if you're volunteering at Olympic Day and you're going to be taking a group of kids around, we should be raptoring in, but there are times where parents just need to be parents regardless of the background and experiences that they might bring into the building. How do we use Raptor in those circumstances for a mandatory meeting with the principal or something like that? Yeah, so essentially, if if you are leaving the front secure area of the building coming in, you
010are in close contact or close quarters of students, you're being raptored in. So, uh I'll give you example. Um I am coming to the school because my kid dropped their forgot to bring their lunch or their Spanish book or whatever and I'm literally just dropping it off at the office, I'm turning around and heading back out the door, we don't raptor in. But, if you're coming to your example, I'm coming in for a meeting, well then you're going to get you're going to get raptored in because for two things, obviously you're going to be within the school uh and possibly interacting with children. And the other thing is um I want to be able to identify uh our visitors from our uh teachers, right? And folks who do belong and maybe who don't belong. So,
011by having being raptored in, you also get that visitor's pass. So, if a staff member sees uh a parent walking around and uh they don't have that visitor's pass, it's like, "Hey, how can I help you? Uh is there something you're looking for, right?" It's it's a it's a it's a way to be able to say, "Okay, let's let's make some contact um with this adult to make sure that they are here in their proper and doing those kind of things. Uh not to say that we would not interact with people who do have passes on, right? Um but it's it's a very quick uh at a glance indicator that, "Hey, um you know, is should this person be walking around our building?" Is there any arbitration of backgrounds that's being done at the initial
012checkpoint or is it just a visitor identification system at that stage? Uh so, all of the visitor management systems, uh obviously there is a requirement by legislation to uh run against Megan's Law. Uh so, that happens every time. Right? So, even if I create uh an account and I come in and I don't scan my license every time, but I use this new feature on the app and I scan I create my own QR code and I go up to the scanner and I create uh scan my QR code, it's every time it's going to run that that uh that sex offenders registry check. >> [clears throat] >> I'm an enormous believer in that and I also recognize that it is something as a policy stance and maybe we already have this and I'm ignorant
013to it and forgive me. But like if someone pops on that registry and is also a parent being called to a principal's office, I think it's just needs to stem how we approach that conversation in terms of how we're escorting them through the building differently. It doesn't necessarily mean how that a parent can't come and engage in a conversation with the teacher for that. I think it just creates a little bit of a different dynamic to navigate. Again, I fully supporting the implementation of Raptor. I just think that that policy piece is always a a tricky one to navigate particularly for front desk staff. Yeah, so there there is policy requiring our visitors to go through that process and there is also a standard operating procedure to address the scenario you just gave an example
014to. Awesome. I appreciate it and thank you for continuing to lift up the safety from the front door all the way through. Good on my end. Okay. I just had one clarifying question about the the 48,000. That I think that's just the startup cost for this year and then next year the licensing will be less. Correct. Okay. All right. So, we have a motion. Do we have a vote? So, all in favor of moving this to workshop or action, I'll say I. I. I. Okay, motion carried. All right. So, the next items are informational items. So, go ahead, Mr. Rome. Uh yeah, so just two informational items to to make the committee aware of. One is we use a vendor CRG mapping to do mapping professional mapping of our building and that's really for emergency
015type situations where you know, our our first responder emergency responder partners need to get to a particular location in a building the most uh effective and efficient way. And so, there is a couple buildings that we still are getting done and so, I just want to make the the committee aware that those will be completed and then we will have the entirety of the district done and then obviously the high school will get a redo when all the renovations are complete. I will say in regards to the the high school while we are not redoing the maps through every stage every phase is because obviously that gets very expensive. What I have done is communicated with our emergency partners police fire EMS and opened the door for them to continue to walk through as we
016close portions of the building and open other portions. Obviously, if there is a incident or a situation where they need to come they need to have an understanding okay, you know, maybe the last time I was here I could get in A pod now I can't and now this this floor is closed and this wing or this pod is closed. So, we are keeping that dialogue open and and you know, inviting them in so that they can get a frame of reference as to what is available and what is not available throughout the construction project. Happy to take any questions on that. >> Is that just like is it the or all [clears throat] the municipalities and the first responders have access to to all of the maps all the time? So, the the county
017does the county emergency department of emergency services. And so, what will happen is if there is a situation where emergency personnel are responding, the dispatcher on the other end can then radio and walk those individuals through where to you know, go in door A2 and make a left at room A33 and make it right. So, they're being able to look at that. You know, I I know sometimes these were advertised that you know, cops can look at the map while they're driving to the scene. I can tell you having been in that shoes, when you are driving at emergency speed, you are not looking at floor plans of a building. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. And how often is this updated? So, they should be updated as changes are made. So, right? So, if we make
018structural changes, you know, if we say these five rooms are no longer in existence, right? Then we would come back and and and redo them. If it's just a matter of renaming, then we can rename, but if we've made like structural changes, then we would come back and and redo it, right? Cuz that changes the floor plan. Okay. And is this something that we pay for or is this done in house? Okay. All right. Thanks. Any other comments? No comments or questions. Thanks for leading this. Yep. And then the last informational item I want to draw your attention to is a mentorship program that we are embarking on and we're going to start at Penfield Middle School. And so, we have an individual on staff who wrote a fabulous 10-week mentorship program and it's really
019kind of I guess a a way of giving you a point of reference is kind of like Big Brother Big Sister type of program, right? Where it's just we're engaging young folks in how can we be good students and and good citizens and make good decisions and you know, what what happens if we don't think things through and we make a poor decision and how can we rebuild from that and how can we you know, have conversations with individuals, right? Cuz we're so everything's so through text, right? Through through a device and so just looking for some more ways and opportunities to connect with people with with our students and build relationships. You know, some of some of you or some folks may be thinking well, why just Penfield? Well, we got to start somewhere,
020right? So, not saying that it will only be at Penfield, but but we're looking to start somewhere and then a part of this model of Pathways is the name of the program. Part of this model does have a kind of train the mentor. Right? So, we can now get other people trained up in the path Excuse me, in the Pathways model so that we can roll this out into other buildings. And so, we're just kind of starting the intro conversation and then really going to uh dig our heels in in the in the start of the 2026-2027 to really work through the the course as it as it it is written. So, we've had some conversations with Dr. O'Sullivan, the principal at Penfield, myself, Dr. O'Sullivan and Dr. Bolden, we met. We also met with
021Officer Stevenson who wrote the program. Wonderful program and just talked through like what does this look like? What's the logistics of it in Penfield? Who are some of the students that we think can benefit from this? And so, there is a parent consent, right? So, it's not like we're going to force somebody into this that maybe they're not interested in, right? So, there is that you know, that two-way communication so that parents know what's going on. We are not looking to have students miss instructional time. So, we're looking at what's called pen time. Which for us it would probably be more referred to maybe like home room. And so, you know, and it will involve and it will involve a lot of structured like I mentioned, but also just some time where right, we get
022to know each other, right? We get to build relationships and you know, so we'll have structured time where we'll talk about things and and there'll be a particular path that we're looking to go down, but sometimes it's just about like hey, let's have a chat and chill and get to know each other. Right? And and build that relationship and and maybe not have so much structure so that again that those that relationship get turns to happen. So, really excited about the opportunity. Really digging into this. I think this is going to be really beneficial for a lot of our students and our community as you know not only are we here to educate, right? But we're we're also providing a little bit of life skills, right? And so, just as important as math and science
023and social studies and and all those things are, I think it's equally as important. You know, we talk about it in our mission state statement about you know contributing global citizens, right? And so, let's let's educate them and help them along that path as well. So, really really excited about this this mentorship opportunity. Right. I really appreciate that too. It's so important to have that that mentorship level instead of just only academics. Mr. Bell, do you have any comments? Um first, I love this approach starting in middle school. I think middle school is just so hard and to be able to have these types of supports and mentoring opportunities there is great. I also think this really speaks to the I lovingly think of it as like the Swiss cheese approach to school safety that
024you really apply, right? It's not just about the doors and the emergency plans and the partnership with first responders and the security team. It's also about how do we make sure that we're building strong, socially and emotionally healthy kids that are ready to navigate the day and I I'm excited to hear that mentoring is a big part of that cuz I think that it can have an incredible impact on the right students in the process. Uh So, you mentioned going through a process to select with the school principal and the team. Is there specific um target behaviors or needs or expectations that you're focusing on when you're choosing the kids that are going to be participating or is it really just uh elevating through like RTI things like that and MTSS protocols? Like how is
025this going through? Yeah, so that's a really good question, Mr. Bell. Um I I want to be clear that it's it's this is not like a punitive thing, right? So, it's not like, "Okay, you did this and now you're going to the mentor program, right?" Um it's really about um is there a student that's struggling to whatever, right? Kid maybe maybe kid's new, right? And maybe the kid's struggling to kind of find their way. Um an opportunity to build some relationships and and talk and kind of work through that, right? Or or maybe there's a kid who's just like I'll I'll use me, right? Brandon as a student at school, right? Social butterfly, you know, talk to every single person on the way to class, was late to class, can't seem to, you know, right?
026So, kind of like, "Okay, let's let's have that conversation about you know, you're you're 3 to 5 minutes late to every class, right? Well, you know, that 3 to 5 minutes in however many periods a day times 183 days a year, you've missed how much instruction throughout the course of the day, right? So, let's let's work some ways to help you work through, right? Like the importance of why you need to be in class because those while you may be looking at it at the here and right now, like, "Oh, why you bother me? It's 3 minutes." Well, that 3 minutes adds up in that 183 days, right? Um so, it's really a gamut across the board of like there's a there's a need that needs to there's a void that needs to be filled,
027right? And let's let's help, right? Or or maybe it's a student who they don't, right? They're not a fighter, they're not a cutter, they're not a vapor, but but maybe they're just kind of doing things that some some better skill set in making decisions would turn the corner for them, right? So, let's let's have that conversation. Um so, it's not punitive, right? It's not like, you know, the the the kid who is is always fighting or always vaping or always cutting class, right? It's not it's not solely around reacting to an action of a student. I love that and I'm super eager to watch this spill out. Ideally, not just from Pennfield, but across the district. So, uh really exciting to see how this goes as you launch it. Yep. Great. Thank you so much,
028Mr. Ron, for all of that. That was very informative. Um next is other business including student rep comments. Just Do we have any comments from the student rep? Not today. Thank you. Not today. Any other business? No? And Mrs. Speaker, do we have anyone online that wants to speak? At this time, yes, we do. Okay. All right. I will read the public comment guidelines. Individuals attending this meeting virtually and intending to speak to the committee should be aware that they are being recorded. In order to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania's Sunshine Law, it is necessary to record the names of all citizens who speak to the committee during the meeting. To assure compliance with this requirement, it is essential that those planning to address the committee raise their hand electronically and state their name and
029municipality. Members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to matters being discussed at tonight's safe schools meeting or matters that may become come before the safe schools committee. Members of the audience are asked to limit their questions and comments to 3 minutes. Go ahead. Okay, at this time, uh Mr. Lanier, I'm going to unmute your mic and you may begin talking. Uh Jason Lanier, Lansdale. Um uh like the the idea of the mentorship as well. I think that's a good idea, especially I agree. Uh middle school is a is a tough time for for all the kids. I I I only had boys and uh I know it was a tough time for for them. Uh a lot of a lot of uh physical and emotional changes happening in a short
030period of time for uh young men in that period. Not to say that there's an issue with girls, I'm just not as familiar with them. Um and and the the the sort of the the hostility of middle school, if you will. Uh What I What I I want I guess so and I if I'm if I'm asking something cuz I missed last couple meetings here, I apologize, but what has become of the Evolv system and is it being expanded still? What is um I I know there was a big push to have a lot of metal detectors um and the detectors that Evolv is actually I guess it's more than that. Uh Is that still happening? Is that not happening? And uh how is one is the Raptor system then if you have the the
031the detection system that's available in every school, is the Raptor system just a layer on top of that or do they work independently of each other and and it has to do with the deployment? Um Sorry for the opening question and I if I'm asking a redundancy here, uh my apologies, but I'll leave it there. Thank you. Sure. >> you, Mr. Lanier. Go ahead, Mr. Ron. Yeah, I'm I'm happy to to answer Mr. Lanier's question and Mr. Lanier, we can certainly uh have any further dialogue or conversation um if you want to stop by or send me an email or call. Um but to the the Raptor and Evolv are two completely separate different things. Um they're they're not connected by any way. While they are connected, I shouldn't say they're not connected by any
032way. While there are both a layer of safety and security, uh they serve two completely different roles um and responsibilities. Um so, you know, obviously Raptor is for um visitor management and being able to know who's in our buildings and when they come in and when they leave and that they can be there um and obviously as I mentioned earlier, um checking against the registered sex offenders list and and Raptor is about weapons detection system um and we Raptor is in every building across the district um where we um obviously Evolv is not. So, um that's the quick answer, but Mr. Lanier, if if you want to have further detailed conversation, I'm happy to do that. Thank you, Mr. Ron. Also, uh to Mr. Lanier's point, uh mentorship for boys is really impactful, but only
033raising girls, it's just as important. So, I really appreciate that leadership there, too. So, uh echoing Mr. Lanier's thoughts there. Okay, so in summary, we're going to move two things to an action workshop meeting. Uh one is the Raptor technology approval to purchase the Raptor technology emergency management system and also the VMSC agreement for emergency medical services for the 2026 graduation ceremony. So, with that, the next meeting will be held on May 26th um at 5:45 in a virtual format. So, do I have a motion to adjourn? Motion. All right. Thank you very much, everyone. Meeting adjourned. And Mr. Kaiser, I just want to mention given that we finished so early, just this is earlier than usual. We will jump right over to obviously we have to shut down this meeting, but we will jump
034over to F and O. Yes.