Jefferson City Public Schools updates emergency and safety plan

The Safety and Security Committee plans to educate and prepare staff and students for emergency situations for the upcoming school year. It is a newly formed committee, which met for the first time Tuesday.

“It’s a brand new committee,” committee chair Michael Couty said. “We’ll be looking building by building to find what their needs are… and if they’re any hazards, we can identify and make corrections.”

Tuesday the committee discussed the A.L.I.C.E program, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. The program aims to educate teachers as well as students about what they should do in emergency situations. Law enforcement will be involved by presenting ways to handle active shooter situations to teachers.

“The purpose of that strategy is to empower our staff and our students with the knowledge that they can do something in an emergency, and that they should do something in an emergency,” safety and security coordinator Kurt Mueller said.

Other safety measures focused on today included controlled entry and exit points of schools and security camera systems.

Last year’s presentation outlined the number and nature of drills that students and staff at Jefferson City Public Schools conducted during the school year. It also outlined new methods of communication between staff in emergency situations through a mobile app.