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Sarasota News Leader January 25, 2013 Page 20 During the workshop, Darrell Reyka, the district's director of school safety and security, presented a report on the status of safety in the county's public schools. He has been working on the issue for years, he pointed out. Reyka pointed out that his department, which was created in response to the original report, has been busy overseeing the transformation of the public schools from the open-campus site plans of the past to monitored facilities Many of the measures taken in the district with controlled access. began over a decade ago in response to the One of the weaknesses mentioned in the 2003 Columbine High School shootings in Colorado report was the need for better security camera and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Reyka noted. systems and more sophisticated access conIn 2002, the Sarasota district hired National School Safety and Security Services to assess the safety of its facilities, Reyka explained. Representatives of the firm visited every school in the county to provide a comprehensive analysis of the level of its security. trols. "There are now more than 3,200 digital security cameras in use in Sarasota County Schools," Reyka said. "Control of delivery access, such as in cafeterias, has been tightened, with doors kept in a permanent locked state," The assessment, completed in 2003, report- he added. ed, "Sarasota County has one of the best law enforcement/school partnerships in the coun- The equipment consists of high-quality digital color cameras, which are monitored on site; try." image recordings also are maintained on site, "They noted we had strong critical incident he said. plans and a leadership team who reviews and monitors the schools' crisis intervention plan School principals and law enforcement ofand training," said Reyka. "We have a strong ficers can access and view the tapes, Reyka relationship with our county Emergency Man- pointed out; otherwise, they are inaccessible agement program," he added. "We have con- to the public. tinued with that relationship and have strong For instance a subpoena would likely be recommunity support." quired for access to the tapes, he said, to proBut as School Board member Carol Todd tect the privacy of students and employees. pointed out, and Reyka readily admitted, the Reyka also showed the board members slides study is 10 years old. of the gates and fences that have become comReyka then noted that the National School mon on the schools' grounds. Safety and Security Services undertook an informal, follow-up review in 2011 that was also "Today we screen all visitors through a sexfavorable. That report said the firm's represen- ual predator/sexual offender database, and tatives were "astounded by the improvements since 2005 all contractors and vendors are screened," Reyka added. % made in security since 2003," he added.