{"id":20340,"date":"2019-11-29T09:36:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T16:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61751"},"modified":"2019-11-29T09:36:50","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T16:36:50","slug":"egsd-moves-forward-with-security-improvements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/egsd-moves-forward-with-security-improvements\/","title":{"rendered":"EGSD moves forward with security improvements"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The entrance to East Grand Middle School is one of the major security projects the district is undertaking with funds from the BEST Grant.<\/strong>
Amy Golden \/ agolden@skyhinews.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

East Grand School District continues progress on an $8 million school security update with plans to start major construction this summer.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, East Grand was awarded $2.1 million from the Building Excellent Schools Today Grant Program, also known as BEST, and committed to providing $5.9 million in matching funds from the district to improve security and emergency management.<\/p>\n

A large portion of the money will be directed toward updating the entrances of Fraser Valley Elementary and East Grand Middle School. Last week, the district presented schematics of the entrances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time because we get to start seeing designs of our entryways,\u201d East Grand Superintendent Frank Reeves said.<\/p>\n

The schematics can still be changed, but the district hopes to approve the final design by early January. Construction on the entryways would take place over the summer, leaving just a 10-week window for construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we want to get done with these drawings so fast,\u201d Reeves said.<\/p>\n

Approval in January gives the construction company four to five months to plan the summer construction. The district hopes for the work to be completed by mid-August.<\/p>\n

The entryway construction is not the only security improvement East Grand is planning. Other changes include upgrading video and speaker systems, putting in a district-wide mass notification system, installing new door hardware and exterior card-reader access controls, and expanding fire suppression systems.<\/p>\n

Reeves said most of these improvements are \u201clow voltage,\u201d meaning they can be done over shorter periods of time when students aren\u2019t in school.<\/p>\n

The grant alone does not cover the $8 million safety and security plan. A key component of the grant is the $5.9 million in matching funds the district must provide.<\/p>\n

The school board voted in June<\/a> to use the district\u2019s reserves and funds borrowed through a certificate of participation, also known as a COP, to raise the additional money.<\/p>\n

The money borrowed by the district through the COP is paid through general operating funds. Unlike a GO Bond or mill levy override, school districts can approve COP financing without voter approval.<\/p>\n

Because of this, a COP is typically used as an interim funding mechanism and districts look to voter-approved GO Bonds or mill levy overrides to cover repayment.<\/p>\n

East Grand has not made anything official in regards to a bond, Reeves said, as they continue to consider their options. He pointed out that while the BEST Grant does a lot for security, the district still faces many difficulties.<\/p>\n

Reeves said the grant doesn\u2019t address overcrowding at Granby Elementary or the need for better STEM facilities, key parts of the district\u2019s master plan. For a voter bond, the district is considering asking for more than the $4 million anticipated for the COP repayment to help with these other capital projects.<\/p>\n

How much that might be is still in consideration. Reeves said the board would make its decision by June.<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The entrance to East Grand Middle School is one of the major security projects the district is undertaking with funds from the BEST Grant.Amy Golden \/ agolden@skyhinews.com East Grand School District continues progress on an $8 million school security update with plans to start major construction this summer. Earlier this year, East Grand was awarded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 05:27:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}