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Wednesday, December 5, 2018
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LUXURY HOMES ON A ROLL
yrene School District is taking new measures to enhance safety and security at its 25 schools. Officials are hiring a coordinator for the district’s alarm systems and planning to install equipment that will give first responders a more complete view of any building during an emergency – making Kyrene the first district in the state with such a system. The school board last month unanimously approved hiring a safety and security coordinator whose approximate $50,000 annual salary, at least for now, would be covered by bond money that funded the installation of an elaborate network of security cameras and other safeguards at all Kyrene schools.
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And by spring, the district hopes to have installed a system that will provide a far more complete view of every school’s interior and exterior so that first responders in an emergency will have a clearer picture of the layout of any room or corridor. The system will equip police from Tempe, Chandler and Phoenix with far more information about a building than they have for any school in their jurisdiction. At a school security summit that city Councilman Sal DiCiccio held in June, Phoenix Police said they were currently collecting blueprints of schools in the city so they could have some knowledge of the interior layout in the event of an emergency “We’ll be way past that,” Kyrene IT Director Damien Nichols told AFN, explaining that the new system will provide aerial views as well
three-dimensional images of every room and corridor so that first responders will be able to immediately identify where exits, closets and any potential obstacle might exist within a building. Currently a district safety committee is evaluating two systems and will have a recommendation for the school board either later this month or early next, he added. The coordinator would ensure all schools follow emergency plans and safety policies, act as a liaison between the district and first responders from both the law enforcement and emergency medical communities, track and maintain all safety and security equipment and monitor bond spending for safety devices. The position would be a low-cost but efficient alternative to school resource officers, See
SECURITY on page 18
A $10K award elates, mystifies DV teacher BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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@AhwatukeeFN
Kyrene officials taking big steps on school security BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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@AhwatukeeFN |
hen Desert Vista High School teacher Katrina Lacey got into work after the long Thanksgiving weekend and opened an email that said she won $10,000, she did what most people probably would do. She spiked it. Only after Interim Principal Christine Barela told her that she got an email as well about Lacey’s award, did reality hit her. “I was shocked,” said Lacey, who teaches English Literature and remedial reading to freshmen and English as a Second Language to all four grade levels at Desert Vista. And she teaches it so well that the National University System gave her a Sanford Teacher Award, which comes with the no-strings $10,000 award and puts her in the running for another $50,000 early next year. This is the first year for the awards, which are based on an evaluation by a panel of teachers. The National University System singled
out one teacher in every state and the District of Columbia for the prize, which it described as a reward for teachers “who give so much of their time, dedication and energy to our communities.” The teachers are brought to its attention by nominations. And that’s created one of two nagging mysteries for Lacey. “I don’t know who nominated me,” she said. In seeking nominations, the National University System and Sanford Teacher (Special to AFN) Award administra- Desert Vista High School English teacher Katrina Lacey holds the certificate that See
TEACHER on page 14
names her Arizona’s winner of the 2018 Sanford Teacher Award, which includes a no-strings gift of $10,000.