GREENHILLS, Ohio — For one afternoon, teachers became the students. Dozens of Winton Woods South Campus instructors and staff sat in on a presentation about how their school is boosting security.
The district has enlisted the help of SafeDefend, a security company based out of Kansas led by former teacher and principal, Jeff Green.
“Our system is not about a teacher going and taking a bad guy out with a gun, but our system is about how do you protect your class, how do you protect your environment to keep your kiddos safe?" Green said.
Watch our story with Winton Woods and SafeDefend here:
SafeDefend's program has two specific portions. The first is a new security system and alert machines across the campus. The second is training on using defense and medical tools if an attack or injury happens.
Their machines are mounted on the walls, each requiring a bio-metric scan to be accessed. The company told WCPO that it is not a simple fingerprint scan, it turns your finger's minutia points into a binary code.
If an alert goes off, machines will shut down certain doorways. Teachers and staff will receive a notification of where the threat is and law enforcement will be immediately notified.
“We want to make sure that should there be a true incident where these tools are needed, they can be accessible to everybody and enroll everybody and give them the access," said Dan Cole, SafeDefend's trainer.
Staff spent around an hour listening to a presentation on the security boosts and how they will be trained to respond. Once the presentation ended, teachers were able to use the tools themselves.
"Finding ways that they can keep an intruder out of their classroom, they can respond to trauma if necessary, escape and evade," said Green.
Teachers and administrators used pepper spray cans, retractable batons, first aid supplies and special flashlights.
“I feel more able to help students, help myself in the event does happen," sixth-grade teacher Dewey Copley said.
These security upgrades have been implemented in Winton Woods' North and South campuses, ensuring proper training and preparation for students, teachers, and staff.
