Mr. Jeremy McDevitt, the Assistant Superintendent for Business Operations and Human Resources, provided a safety and security update at the April 17 Board of Education meeting.
In light of recent national and local events concerning school safety and security, Mr. McDevitt shared and wanted to emphasize that Kenston Schools and the Safety Committee are working behind the scenes year-round on school safety and security. They are constantly working and evaluating procedures and plans and looking for funding sources to add to and enhance security in the District. In addition, Mr. McDevitt shared that he and Superintendent Sayers met with Bainbridge Police Chief Jon Bokovitz following the local incident to review our procedures. The relationship with the Bainbridge Police Department is crucial and vital to keeping our staff and students safe on campus, as this is our number one priority.
Following state requirements and assessments, Kenston works to ensure we are in compliance. The following are ways that Kenston is proactively working to keep current.
Within the last five years, we have completed two vulnerability assessments. These are completed and reviewed for any areas where improvements can be made.
Annual reviews of our emergency operations plans. These are completed and reviewed for any areas where improvements can be made.
Mr. McDevitt met with Mr. Doug Smith from the Ohio Schools Safety Center who was recently appointed as the Region 4 Training Officer. Kenston will be working with him and using some of the services they provide.
Safety Committee Meeting: The Safety Committee (which is comprised of Board Members Mr. Tom Manning and Mr. Dennis Bergansky, Kenston Administrators, and members of the Bainbridge Police and Fire Department) met on April 20, 2023, to review Kenston’s safety and security initiatives.
Kenston Middle School and Kenston High School now have trained threat assessment teams in place per Ohio Law House Bill 123.
Again, the safety and security of our campus is of utmost importance, and we are consistently working on it at every level. If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with your child’s school Administrator or the Board of Education office.