Like many schools across the country, the Salisbury Township School District is taking proactive measures to make schools in the district safer for students, educators and staff.

During the Oct. 3 operations meeting, committee members discussed various objectives and opportunities to meet that goal.

In October, the district will begin new lockdown procedures and the implementation of “Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate” or “A.L.I.C.E.” with training scheduled Oct. 10 during the professional development day. The Salisbury Police Department will also be on-site at all the buildings to conduct “active shooter” drills.

Safety has been an important issue in the district and over the last three years; Salisbury Township has been awarded over $45,000 in grant money from the ‘Successful, Safe and Healthy Students’ program that assists school districts in meeting the needs of the community through various initiatives that benefit the overall health of the student.

The money awarded from the grant has been used to purchase security and recording equipment and future grant money awarded will be used to purchase “NaviGate Prepared” a security tool to make the district’s students safer by allowing first responders an “eyes on” approach to monitor the schools by creating a visual map of the building.

The system, which uses a secure cloud based environment also houses important call lists and virtual binders easily accessible should an emergency arise.

Additional safety measures are being taken at the district with the installation of a keyless lock system at the high school. Currently, all other schools in the district are using similar technology. The cost to replace the key system is $41,000.

While the locks are being changed on the building, the sewer line along the rear of the baseball field at the high school is also being replaced. As in the case of the old sewer line, the awkwardly placed manhole cover on the field will also become a thing of the past. The committee is hopeful the field will be re-sodded to its original condition.

Work on the sewer line should be completed by the end of the second week of October.

In other district business, the committee expressed concern about the economic feasibility of district’s lunch program and will be researching how to improve the program and continue to serve the students efficiently.

Board Secretary Robert Bruchak will visit Catasauqua School District to study how a similarly sized school manages their lunch program.

The district is also evaluating benefits and administrative support for the food service staff.