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Eanes Elementary receives board approval for safety improvements
At its May 29 meeting, the Eanes ISD school board authorized more than
$1 million to improve the security of the Eanes Elementary School campus at
4101 Bee Caves Road in Austin.
"In 2006 we started making districtwide plans for increasing safety," EISD Superintendent Nola Wellman said. "We wanted to make sure that visitors at every school had to check in at the office."
EES has a challenging security setup because it is one of the few schools in the area with multiple access points, EES Principal Jodie Villemaire said.
"New schools are designed to feed through the office, and the changes we are making will help facilitate that," she said.
The changes include $61,556 to finish a fence along the campus perimeter with access points for teachers and staff.
The majority of the money is earmarked for changing the main entrance to the school per federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Nearly $375,000 will go toward removing and replacing the steps leading to the main entrance and adding a wheelchair ramp.
The remaining money will go toward electronic security locks, site drainage, permitting fees and other items, Wellman said.
"Right now we don't have that basic control over who is visiting our campus," Villemaire said. "All of our classrooms open to the outside, and that presents an opportunity for something bad to happen. All schools should know who is on campus at all times. This will give us that basic control."
The school will add a vestibule-like structure at the main office to funnel traffic through the office, EISD Facility Director Les Reddin said.
"The reality is that these changes will make the campus safer. The children and the teachers will feel safer as well," Villemaire said.
The project is currently underway, and Reddin said he thinks the construction will be done before students return to school in the fall.
