ATLANTA — As students begin to head back to school, safety and security concerns are among some school district officials’ top growing priorities and concerns across the Atlanta Metro area.

The Fulton County school district, for example, is investing in Avigilon, a high-tech video surveillance system that will be installed in over 105 public school buildings at a cost of $4.6 million, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“The basic idea is to have one place to collaborate on emergency situations,” said Paul Hildreth, safety coordinator for Fulton County Schools, to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Safety comes in all forms — weather advisories, traffic alerts, as well as criminal activity.”

In addition to adding video surveillance, emergency alert systems, and more police and safety officers in Atlanta Metro school districts, recent construction projects like those in DeKalb County have incorporated several safety and security features across the district.

Fulton County is reportedly the fourth-largest school district in the state and has the funds for Avigilon’s elaborate system, but safety is an expense for all Metro school districts regardless of size. Some districts, like Gwinnett, Clayton and Henry counties, added more school police officers. Others like DeKalb County, which is Georgia’s third-largest school system, have invested $15 million in safety and security improvements in schools across their district.

Twenty metal detectors will be installed initially in five high schools throughout the district via a pilot program: Cross Keys High School (Region 1), Lakeside High School (Region 2), Stone Mountain High School (Region 3), Martin Luther King Jr. High School (Region 4), Towers High School (Region 5).

DeKalb County is investing $230 million into new facilities and additions, which will include two new elementary schools, in order to counter overcrowding in what is known as the Cross Keys Cluster, according to its website.

According to DCSD board meeting notes, the new construction of school buildings now includes roll-down doors that help to increase security if a non-authorized individual enters the school premises.

A report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.

The post Atlanta Metro Schools Upgrade Safety Systems appeared first on School Construction News.

ATLANTA — If one were to examine the docket of the recent Fulton County Board of Education meeting, it would seem the district is in the real estate business instead of the education business. The district, which serves the area of Fulton County outside Atlanta, green-lit a raft of pending capital projects at the Jan. 22 meeting, with approvals going to several area school projects.

Among those now basking in the verdant glow of their respective green-lights is a new STEM-based campus with a prospective launch date of August 2021. The board approved a $2.36 million agreement with Cooper Carry Inc., a national architectural that has a speciality in K-12 educational structures, for design and construction management services.

To that end, another complementary STEM campus was also under discussion and could possibly open in 2020 if the board’s apparent zeal for approving projects can be sustained. The science-, technology-, engineering- and mathematics-centric educational curricula is a boon to students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare, engineering and computer science, observed a report filed by local news outlet the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

According to the district’s Capital Plan 2022 posted on their website, the STEM campuses will “prepare students for college and career readiness through academics, career-related courses, internships and industry certifications.” Among other objectives, the district hopes the initiative will help “build strategic partnerships between Fulton County Schools and the business community that will provide industry experiences and internship opportunities for students.”

The projected budget for the districts 2022 capital plan is $976 million. This budget was created using revenue projections for a special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST), a financing method for funding capital projects in the state of George via an optional 1 percent sales tax that counties may levy to build schools and other public structures.

The Fulton County School System has approximately 11,500 full-time employees, including 7,500 teachers and other certified personnel, who work in 99 schools and 15 administrative and support buildings. Altogether, 94,000 students attend classes in 58 elementary schools, 19 middle schools and 15 high schools as well as seven charter schools.

The post Atlanta’s Fulton County Green-lights Several School Projects appeared first on School Construction News.