Anniston Star
September 13, 2002

County school board evaluates preparedness plans

By Jennifer Ginsberg
Star Staff Writer

The Calhoun County Board of Education discussed the school system's disaster preparedness plan during its work session Thursday night.

The security plan includes operational procedures for overpressurized schools and schools that will utilize a shelter in place plan in the event of an accident at the Anniston Army Depot chemical weapons stockpile.

The plan was constructed by the Emergency Management Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Calhoun County School System and Innovative Emergency Management Inc.

Schools in the system that are currently overpressurized include the alternative school at Bynum, Coldwater Elementary, Wellborn Elementary and Wellborn High School, Alexandria elementary and high schools, and the multi-disabled unit, also at Alexandria.

Schools that are awaiting overpressurization include Saks elementary, middle and high schools, Ohatchee elementary and high schools and Weaver elementary and high schools, said Mike Fincher, director of public safety and security for the school system.

Students and staff of Coldwater Elementary School practiced the emergency plan earlier this week. It took three minutes and 50 seconds to have every child in the safe area and the overpressurization system started. In another three minutes, all of the people were accounted for, Fincher said.

"For our first time, that was outstanding," Fincher said. "It (the plan) looked good on paper. We wanted to see if it physically worked, and it did."

In the event of an accident, a maximum of five minutes is allotted for the information to be relayed from the Anniston Army Depot to the Emergency Management Agency, and then a maximum of eight minutes for it to be relayed from the EMA to the community, said Delois Champ, operations manager of the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency.

Champ stressed that this 13 minutes is the maximum amount of time it would take for the
community to know about an accident.

The safety plan also includes a plan for unpressurized schools, also known as shelter-in-place schools. In these schools, the Army Corps of Engineers and Innovative Emergency Management Inc. have located a safe place for students and staff to go.

Schools in the Calhoun County School System that have shelter in place include the schools that are awaiting overpressurization, plus Pleasant Valley Elementary and High Schools, White Plains Elementary and High Schools, DeArmanville Junior High and the Career Tech School.

Schools within 12 miles of the Depot have been designated for overpressurization, Champ said. This includes nine schools in the county including six within the Calhoun County school system.

The board of education is expected to officially approve the safety plan at their next meeting on Sept. 26. Once the plan is approved, it will be specifically designed for each school, Fincher said.

Although the plan soon will be officially in place, Fincher stresses that the procedure will always be improved.

"It's a constant procedure until the weapons are destroyed," he said.

In other business, the board approved bus bids, which will add 10 new buses for a total cost of $515,000 to their existing fleet. Each year, the state gives school systems $4,600 for each bus they have under 10 years old. Systems receive no state money for buses more than 10 years old.

This policy encourages schools to get their buses off the road before they are more than a decade old, said Superintendent Jacky Sparks. About 98 percent of the school system's fleet is under 10 years old, Sparks said.

The board also approved its updated five-year capital plan. The following are some improvements and repairs slated to be funded during 2003, according to the plan:

Finish Ohatchee Elementary by Christmas 2002

Begin an addition to Saks Elementary School around Christmas 2002.

Re-roof Saks High School, Calhoun County Area Vocational Center, Pleasant Valley High School, White Plains High School, Saks Elementary School and the Central Office.

Replace the HVAC systems in Weaver High School, Saks High School, DeArmanville Junior High, Coldwater Elementary School, Saks Elementary School, Calhoun County Area Vocation Center, Ohatchee Elementary and the Central Office

Remove floor tile containing asbestos and replace it with vinyl tile at Wellborn High School

Replace doors, frames and hardware at Alexandria High School and Saks High School

Repave drive and teachers' parking lot at Weaver High School.