ABOVE: Pictured right, Lt. Jason Seamster of Chesterfield police listens during a Working Group No. 2 meeting last week. Also pictured are Joseph Tylus and Emily Ashley.
Last week, Chesterfield’s School Safety Working Group No. 2 continued working on recommendations that it will submit to the School Safety Task Force and school board in the coming months.
At the Aug. 8 meeting, topics included: developing a common language protocol related to safety drills; ensuring that crisis plans are shared with public safety agencies and use common terminology, labeling, keys, and formats; paying a stipend to a designated safety team leader at each school; implementing a student and parent education program about preventing unauthorized access to guns; improving the reach of public address systems; and developing a student “tip” line or contracting for such.
“At this time, there are no formal proposals that have been brought forward for review from the [working group subcommittees],” Joseph Tylus, the district’s executive director of constituent services, said in an e-mail. Tylus is one of three facilitators for the working group. The others are Emily Ashley, Chesterfield County’s emergency management coordinator, and Capt. Andrea Riesmeyer of the Chesterfield County Police Department. Donald Green was also a facilitator until he was fired by the district last month. Green has been the district’s director of school safety and security since 2014.
Tylus said the target dates for working group proposals to be reviewed by the district’s School Safety Task Force are Sept. 14 and Oct. 31. The task force will determine what proposals to forward to the school board.
The task force is co-chaired by Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran and former Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash, both residents of Chesterfield County and parents of students at Chesterfield County Public Schools, Tylus said.
