Pentucket Regional School District students and staff will soon have the benefit of a new emergency operations plan and a real-time threat alert system, when they are implemented later this month.
The police and fire chiefs of West Newbury, Groveland and Merrimac collaborated with district administration to develop plans addressing a multitude of potential hazards, including severe storms, active shooters, bomb threats and other emergencies. A copy of the report will be released to the public soon, according to a news release.
Merrimac Police Chief Eric Shears was particularly instrumental in supporting the adoption of the District’s new real-time threat alert system, COPsync911.
“We designed a school security plan for Pentucket that will help administrators and staff members manage any emergency that arises,” Shears said. “Our goal was to create a plan of action and adopt a set of tools that will make our school district a recognized leader in school safety.”
Pentucket’s emergency operations plan was developed in accordance with national standards and accepted practices in conjunction with community partners.
“The Pentucket Regional School District seeks to become the preferred educational opportunity for students and families, the career opportunity of choice for talented educators and the investment opportunity of choice for its member communities,” said Jeff Mulqueen, superintendent of schools. “Pentucket’s adoption of plans and systems that meet or exceed standards delineated in the Massachusetts Task Force Report on School Safety and Security establishes the District as a state leader for school safety.”
According to authorities, COPsync will reduce response time during emergencies, while providing greater situational awareness to staff and police. The system, which operates on computers and smartphones by using a mobile application, allows police officers and school administrators to obtain and share information in real time about anything from a fire to an ongoing act of violence on school grounds or inside a school building.