Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has presented the Board of County Commissioners with a plan to increase security at all system schools. At the February 26 BOCC meeting, CMS Chief Operating Officer Millard House outlined the plan that was developed immediately following the mass school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Elements of the plan include:
- Electronic entry at every campus - $1.2 million
- Security fencing around mobiles - $10 million
- Security fencing around building - $3 million
- Cameras at all elementary and middle schools - $16 million
- Infrastructure/bandwidth upgrades - $821,000
- Raptor v-soft or Indent-A-kid - $240,000
- Upgrade internal police radio system - $2.5 million
Total for the security project is $33.7 million. CMS is asking for the County to fund the project, using school bonds approved by the voters in 2007. The security project has not been submitted for consideration through the County’s Capital Project ranking/funding process so the Board would have to grant a waiver for it to be approved.
Several commissioners questions whether the entire project needs to be funding or if it can be done over several years. CEO House told the Board that it was developed as a single project and CMS is asking that the full amount be authorized.
The BOCC will be asked to vote on the measure at its March 19 meeting.
**The CMS Board voted unanimously at its February 26 meeting to ask the BOCC to fund the project as soon as possible.