Five county schools getting vestibules to improve security
Five Frederick County schools are getting upgrades that will add layers of security before visitors can get through the front door.
The County Council voted Tuesday to spend about $390,000 in state grants to fund the security improvements.
The money will be used to build vestibules at Brunswick, Green Valley, Kemptown and Myersville elementary schools, and Windsor Knolls Middle School. Those vestibules require school visitors to enter through the main office, after being buzzed in, and then sign in after presenting a photo ID.
The county received $386,000 in August from the state’s School Safety Grant Program, part of Maryland’s Public School Construction Program. Last year, 19 schools in Frederick County didn’t have vestibules, The Frederick News-Post previously reported.
Paul Lebo, chief operating officer of Frederick County Public Schools, said the funds don’t require a local match. He said the five schools getting the upgrades pose challenges because of design issues.
Specifically, because of how the doors are situated at Windsor Knolls, the entire entryway and stairwell will be part of the vestibule, Lebo said. Once the vestibules at these five schools are built, fewer than 10 schools countywide will not have them.
Board of Education member Liz Barrett said each school should have buzz-in information posted at its entrance, as the design of the vestibule can vary for each structure.
Council members did not discuss the state grant at their meeting Tuesday night before voting 7-0 to approve a budget adjustment that allows county school officials to move money from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2020 to pay for the upgrades to the five aforementioned schools.
In February, the Board of Education approved $468,000 in grant funding to construct security vestibules at Ballenger Creek Middle School, Catoctin High School, Monocacy Middle School, Middletown Elementary School, Middletown Middle School and Thurmont Middle School.
Lebo said the district is designing vestibules at Middletown elementary and middle schools and Thurmont Middle. They’ve been working on it for about six months.
