Warsaw Community Schools’ Chief Financial Officer April Fitterling presents a financial update to the school board during a meeting on Tuesday, March 9. InkFreeNews photo by Liz Shepherd.

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Warsaw Community Schools’ Board of Trustees heard updates related to school safety and curriculum during a meeting on Tuesday, March 9.

WCS Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education Dr. David Robertson proposed moving the entirety of the school district’s safety program to “Raptor,” a program the school currently uses for visitor management.

Raptor enhances school security by scanning a visitor’s government-issued identification and comparing that information against a nationwide sex offender database, as well as trespass issuances placed into Raptor by the school district. WCS currently uses the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) method for emergency management and Alertus for emergency notifications.

“We are at a point where we believe we need to make a shift in direction to better support our staff and students with both the A (Alert) and I (Inform) specifically within our response protocols,” said Robertson. “We have a good opportunity with Raptor … they’ve upgraded what they have to offer to bring alignment to some things we’re already doing.”

Robertson said he’d like the school to engage with four of Raptor’s aspects: accountability, drill manager, reunification and Raptor Alert. Raptor Alert is a mobile panic and school emergency notification system that expedites awareness and response to localized incidents and district-wide emergencies. The drill manager aspect would assist WCS with analyzing drill performance and improving protocols. Raptor Accountability would give staff real-time line of sight to the status of any student, staff member or visitor within minutes of an incident initiation. Raptor Reunification will allow the school to greatly increase its speed and accuracy with reunifying students with approved guardians.

Moving the school to Raptor as a whole would cost WCS $19,800 annually, which is an increase from $12,100. Robertson said the extra expense would be worth it.

“The importance of a school corporation to consistently utilize the same tool … this is such an important part of the process,” said WCS Board Vice-President Randy Polston. “I’m very impressed with it.”

Robertson also proposed adopting “Being a Writer” as a writing curriculum, with grades 1-4 as the pilot students for the curriculum. According to Collaborative Classroom, “Being a Writer” is a “student-centered” writing instruction for students in grades K-6. The program’s dual goals are fostering students’ growth as capable, skilled writers and caring, respectful members of their classroom community.

The proposal was initially presented in 2020; however, the school district made the decision to hold off on adopting the curriculum due to COVID-19.

“It (Being a Writer) was approved by curriculum council last March,” said Robertson. “When we got into April for adopting curriculum, we made the decision to focus only on adopting new literacy curriculum because we knew this year would be a unique school year.”

If approved by the board, materials for the curriculum will be ordered and implemented for next year.

The school board will vote on both of Robertson’s proposals during their March 15 meeting.

A preliminary determination hearing was also held regarding the issuance of bonds to help the school maintain its tax rate while completing planned renovations at Warsaw Community High School and Warsaw Area Career Center. The school board must hold two public hearings on the matter and adopt a resolution for the bonds’ issuance. The second public hearing will take place at the school board’s regular meeting on March 15.

These renovation projects will have no effect on the district’s tax rate, with funds only being used for construction needs.

Priorities in a facility study for WCHS and WACC include safety and security, academic classrooms, internal flow and student learning spaces. About 30 classrooms at the high school were renovated in 2020. Classroom renovations included carpet, paint, lighting, ceiling, HVAC and electrical outlet updates. Thirteen WCHS classrooms are set for renovations this summer.

Two major concerns at WCHS included in the renovations are fixing overcrowded stairwells and establishing a main entryway.

In a previous school board meeting, Baker Tilly Partner Todd Samuelson estimated the projects’ amount at $30 million, which would be repaid in about 16 years. WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said based on the school corporation’s size, WCS should always be involved in some type of upgrade, renovation or maintenance project on a year-by-year basis.

The board’s next regular meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday, March 15, at WCHS.