School district officials are planning to make security improvements at an Oak Harbor, Ohio high school early next year.
Although the exact renovation plan has not been selected for Oak Harbor High School, the options being considered involve moving the school’s main office closer to the front entrance.
The security upgrade will be paid for with a $500,000 “permanent improvement fund” allocated by the school board earlier this year, according to the Port Clinton News Herald.
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The announcement came after a massive $46.6 million bond issue was rejected in August. A portion of that money would have gone toward the school’s renovations in addition to the construction of a new K-7 school building.
“This is something we have wanted to do for a while,” Superintendent of Benton-Carroll-Salem Schools Guy Parmigian says. “Our board decided, ‘Let’s not wait. We have the money and security is our No. 1 job, to keep kids safe, so let’s do it now.'”
The front entrance of the school already includes a video surveillance camera, a buzzer and speaker system connected to the main office. But the school’s cafeteria is currently next to the entrance, making visitor management difficult.
A vestibule with two sets of doors is being considered for the project. The other option involves turning the school’s media center into a new main entrance.
“The devil is in the details, as always,” Parmigian says. “But it’s exciting because at the end of the day it’s going to make our kids more safe.”
There has been no cost estimate released for the plans yet.
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