City, DCPS announces partnership with firm specializing in safety doors, glass

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The town of Jacksonville and Duval County college district on Wednesday announced a brand new plan to maintain children secure within the classroom.

The college district employed a New York firm named Armoured One, which specializes in doorways and glass and claims it may decelerate or stop a shooter from getting into a classroom.

Those are crucial components after police in Texas decided the door accessed by the gunman at Robb Elementary College in Uvalde was closed but not locked. Originally, state police said a teacher left the door propped open. Investigators concluded the teacher actually closed the door, but it didn’t lock mechanically like it was purported to. The gunman shot and killed 19 college students and two teachers before he was killed by regulation enforcement.

Armoured One, which was founded after the Sandy Hook Elementary College shooting, is made up of former navy and regulation enforcement brokers who examine mass shooting assaults and seek the advice of on school safety measures.

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“We are going to first work collaboratively to identify where Armoured One sources can greatest praise the training already provided, adding their assets to the training instruments and resources the district already makes use of,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry mentioned Wednesday afternoon at a news conference at Metropolis Corridor to announce the partnership.

Press the play button directly below to look at your entire news conference.

The safety glass and movie that Armoured One invented can withstand several hits -- whether or not that’s bullets, somebody ramming into the glass or using different objects or weapons -- without breaking, which could sluggish an attacker. The doorways it uses have metal framing, latch bolts and deadbolts.

Armoured One is also known for offering lively shooter coaching and assessments. The company points particular person experiences for each building and recommends the very best tools to use for each facility it’s working with.

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Curry mentioned he plans to seek out the funding for that training but also work with the company to carry out faculty safety assessments. Armoured One CEO Tom Czyz mentioned his workforce knows what to look for when it assesses a faculty’s vulnerability.

“They’re looking at methods to slow down an attacker and speed up police response,” Czyz stated. “How can we slow him down -- after which velocity up the response that may cease him.”

Duval County Public Colleges Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene and Duval County Faculty Police Department Chief Greg Burton say security and safety are high of thoughts day by day.

What I want to be widespread is that our households know that we are prepared each day. And that’s what we work in the direction of being a greater college district as it relates to safety and security,” Inexperienced said.

Burton mentioned, “I would say the one word that summarizes every little thing that we do is vigilance.”

Greene mentioned that the district’s best protection is its college students and workers. She mentioned she continues to encourage the varsity group to report anything they see that’s suspicious.

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So far as the associated fee, it’s unclear proper now, because the partnership remains to be being labored out.

Duval County voters accepted a half-cent sales tax in November 2020 with the specific function of replacing aging schools, repairing an enormous backlog of maintenance issues, and bolstering faculty security.

Proper now, 74 initiatives are in the design part and 15 are below building.

As of January 2022, the tax has generated more than $118 million dollars, with greater than $5.7 million already spent or allotted to tasks beneath development.

Over its 15-year life, the gross sales tax is projected to generate $64.9 million for the specific goal of upgrading faculty safety in DCPS schools.

More information about how that money is deliberate to be spent in individual colleges can be found on the college district’s half-cent gross sales tax information dashboard.

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The next record of safety measures is printed on the college district’s web site:

Every faculty has a safety plan and emergency response group.

All faculty lecture rooms are locked when occupied by college students.

School plans are reviewed with employees every semester.

The district has a highly trained faculty police department, giving all faculties direct entry to high school resource officers.

The district utilizes numerous main safety monitoring strategies including digital camera surveillance and monitored controlled entry programs.

All faculties and district workplaces have a District Emergency Communications Network radio with direct entry to high school police and district management. School Police have direct entry to JSO.

All faculties conduct regular evacuation drills (hearth drills).

All schools conduct common emergency and lockdown (“code purple” and “code yellow”) drills.

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