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Grant Funds Security Upgrades at Brewster Schools



From left are Brewster Central School District Director of Facilities Glen Freyer, State Sen. Pete Harckham, BSCD incoming Superintendent Dr. Michelle Gosh, Director of Technology & Innovation Jim Treloar, and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operation Viktor Karlsson. Photo by James Persons/Harckham’s office.

Brewster Central School District has been able to complete safety upgrades and new security installations throughout the district’s four school buildings, thanks to a $100,000 grant through the New York State Senate’s Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, & Technology program.

The need for updated security measures in schools has become increasingly prevalent with incidents of gun violence and unauthorized intruders in schools rising across the country. Recently, the Brewster school administration replaced the locks on every classroom and workspace throughout the district.

“The safety of all our students is of the utmost importance and that’s why this investment in the Brewster Central School District is essential,” said State Sen. Peter Harckham, D-Ossining. “Old and inefficient locks do not help anyone. Students cannot progress academically with their best foot forward if they do not feel safe, and this is the kind of preemptive investment that ensures a secure environment for students and staff.”

The school’s previous lock and key method was cumbersome and could result in inconsistent response times from building to building and classroom to classroom, should an emergency occur, according to school administration. The new quick-action locks can be bolted significantly faster and will drastically improve the response time of faculty executing a lockdown procedure in the event of an emergency.

“The funding received from Sen. Harckham has allowed us to take yet another step forward in the name of student safety,” said incoming Superintendent of Schools Michelle Gosh, now serving as the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “The re-keying of our high school allows for crucial time-saving measures for first responders, staff and students in emergency situations. It also allows for more efficiency in non-emergency settings.”

The new system has also reduced the number of master keys required to unlock each classroom. The previous locks required seven different master keys, which made the process of unlocking each classroom at the end of a lockdown drill quite lengthy. The new locks all correspond to one type of key that is only handed out to faculty members who have been properly vetted to make the lockdown procedure more seamless.

The awarded CREST grant funding is among the State Senate grant programs administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York to support community and economic development.

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