Background:
During this past summer our church leadership agreed for the Building & Grounds Committee to focus energies on safety and security for all of our facilities for at least six months, with the idea to begin outlining a staged process of implementing safety measures. Our work began during the summer in conjunction with TCCC and Noah Rogers, safety expert from the Baptist General Association of Virginia.
As a result of our assessments, the Building & Grounds Committee and the TCCC Director are recommending a Stage 1 of activities that highlight our need to protect the children that we serve every day in our facility. We have already:
● Updated interior door locks to enable an emergency lockdown (funded by TCCC).
● Fixed the door closer on the front door to ensure it closed securely each time the door was used. (Funded by TCCC)
● Changed the door codes for all parties- parents, staff, and church and plan to routinely do this as well as in the event of a staff member leaving, etc.
● Revisited the church’s role in providing spaces for classrooms in the event of a weather emergency or other event that requires relocation from the Williams Building to the main church building.
● Began working with the City to determine if we can add a screen around the mulched playground area.
● Considered a schedule for routine emergency training for the staff.
The next steps in our Williams Building Stage 1 are to install a new, monitored fire panel and to upgrade the access security and intercom system. The fire panel is our first priority based upon our discussions with a number of professionals. We have obtained a proposal that will provide fire protection on all levels of the Williams Building, covering materials and installation at a cost in the range of $40,000-$45,000 (allowing for contingencies in the event of unexpected costs). TCCC is preparing to cover 2/3 of the cost (for the space that they occupy) and TBC is being asked to cover 1/3 (for the space that we occupy). Costs related to security measures applicable to childcare are planned to be covered by TCCC.
We are continuing our due diligence in the event we can find a vendor with a system adequate to meet our needs at a lower price.
We will be holding a Zoom meeting on Monday, November 21st at 7pm for you to ask questions and to provide you with more proposal details. We are hoping that you will join in this discussion so that you have an awareness of potential steps for the main church as well as the building where the child care center is located. We believe that this kind of discussion is helpful prior to a church-wide vote regarding such an investment.
Here is the Zoom link information for the meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88230623508?pwd=alFFUnRPend4Rm5rYkJ3OWJ1aDg3QT09
Meeting ID: 882 3062 3508
Passcode: 278753
