JACKSON TWP — Before parents’ concerns about bullying completely altered the tone of Monday night’s Seneca Valley School Board meeting, the board was presented with a proposal that may bring changes to the district’s safety plans.

Jeffrey James, supervisor of safety and security at Seneca Valley, presented a proposal for “mental health and first aid” and “physical security of the buildings and grounds” changes within the district.

He said he hopes the cost of all of the proposed plans, totaling a little more than $1 million, can be covered through the School Safety and Security Grant Program offered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which is offering more than $50 million for schools across Pennsylvania that try to improve safety protocols.

“I don’t necessarily believe that we’re weak in any spot here at Seneca Valley,” James said, “but what I do want to add on top of the security is more layers.”

James’ grant proposal, which was due Oct. 12, was something he worked on for about three weeks along with Jeff Roberts, the district’s special education director, Denise Manganello, the cyber school principal, and Lynn Burtner, the district’s business manager.

“It was a team effort,” James said. “Fingers crossed that our whole proposal would be approved, and we could get all of that. Of course, we would be happy with anything.”

A large portion of James’ Monday night presentation revolved around the physical aspects of security, including plans to secure school buildings by updating windows that may be an entry point for intruders, upgrading classroom door locks so faculty is able to enter any classroom without the security issues of giving every employee universal keys and installing more metal detecting equipment.

The school currently has a “small pool of metal detectors” that can be used at any school, but the plan James proposed would have one or two detectors at each building so they don’t need to be transported among the facilities and includes random days for students to walk through detectors as they come into buildings.

James said that he learned through his time in law enforcement that metal detectors can be a “great deterrent” to those who entertain thoughts of bringing inappropriate materials into a building. James also suggested adding a school police vehicle to the district to improve movement from one school to another in the event of an emergency.

“Right now in my red minivan, it would be hard for me to get through traffic,” James joked at the meeting while explaining his plan for the vehicle.

Additionally, James made it a goal to add radios and trauma kits to prepare for incidents or injuries involving students and contract social workers and training programs to the district to improve mental health assistance offered at the schools.

There are already social workers employed by the school at the kindergarten through eighth grade and ninth through 12th grade levels, according to James. He said it would be beneficial to add a contracted social worker to split the kindergarten through eighth grade work into kindergarten through fourth and fifth grade through eighth for more individual attention for students.

James said he is unsure when the state will announce the grant winners. He said there isn’t a decision yet on what projects to undertake first as it will depend on the needs determined and the money available.

“We know that there’s a lot of competition out there,” he said. “We’re going to be happy with anything we get, but we’re really hoping that our proposal somehow catches the eyes and ears of the committee that decides on this.”