State to bolster school safety

Missouri will spend $1.6 million in federal Homeland Security money to obtain and expand Internet software meant to help public and private schools and law enforcement agencies respond better to school shootings or other emergencies.

The computer program is designed to help schools set up and update emergency plans to deal with everything from school violence to pandemic influenza.

In addition to public and private elementary and secondary schools, the Web-based program will be made available to colleges and universities in the state as well as licensed day-care facilities, said Paul Fennewald, Homeland Security coordinator for Missouri.

"Basically they will go online and sign up for it," he said Monday.

Gov. Matt Blunt's Homeland Security Advisory Council approved the project late last week.

Most school emergency plans today are written on paper, not listed on a Web site where police and other emergency personnel can more easily access them, Fennewald said. With the software, "first responders" could call up floor plans of school buildings and determine quickly where utility shutoffs are located.

Schools would control the information placed on the secure Web site, he said.

The cost of the Web program includes four years of maintenance. School districts will be able to use the Web program free of charge, he said.

Fennewald said the state hopes to have the program in operation within three months. Cape Girardeau and Jackson school officials know little about the program yet. But they welcomed any effort to improve school safety.

Jackson schools superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson said he isn't surprised that emergency planning has gone high-tech. "If it makes it safer for our students, I think we would be supportive of it," he said.

But Anderson said school safety is already a priority in the Jackson district and in other public schools in Missouri.

Patrick Morgan, executive director of administrative services for the Cape Girardeau School District, said it makes sense to have emergency plans available on computer -- provided that access can be limited to emergency personnel and school personnel.

"You have to use a little caution about putting security plans out there," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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It remains to be seen how many school districts will use the Web program, Morgan said.