New Madrid R-1 School Dist. makes summer improvements

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - One Heartland school district is making major improvements before students return in the fall, and most of them revolve around school safety.

“We’re building a new FEMA building for our high school and middle school campus,” Director of Safety and Security Anthony Roberts said.

At the New Madrid R-1 School District, construction is in full swing before students return to the hallways.

“Every building has updates to its playgrounds, the elementary schools all are fenced in now and no students have to walk outside,” Sam Duncan, superintendent of the district, said.

Duncan said it’s more than just a summer construction project, it’s part of a five-year plan to improve school safety.

“Without that comfort and knowing that you’re secure in your building, it’s difficult for people to concentrate and focus on the task at hand,” Duncan said.

“We have added Safe Defend boxes throughout our district, 197 of them,” Roberts said.

Roberts said these boxes include whistles, flashlights and even a baton so teachers can be prepared for any type of emergency. And when teachers access the box with their fingerprint, it has other features.

“It sends a notification to all of our school resource officers, all of our administrators and to everybody in the county that’s law enforcement, on duty or off duty they receive the same text notification,” Roberts said.

Another big change in the district, how visitors get in.

“You enter into a secure vestibule, and you have to be let into the main campus,” Roberts said.

“When anybody enters any of our buildings now, they’re greeted at the window,” Duncan said.

Visitors now enter into a secure spot without access to the rest of the school.

“It’s been very well received by staff, students, parents,” the superintendent explained.

Along with that, the superintendent said they have new metal detectors, more cameras, and even a master key for select administrators.

“A lot of these upgrades were really basic in nature, but we went for decades not even thinking about it,” Duncan said.

“When they’re here, they’re our kiddos, they’re our kids during the day,” Roberts said. “They get here and they go home the same way they got here.”

According to the superintendent, the funding for these projects comes from the bond issue passed in 2020 and grants.

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