Vermilion Schools tout safety with cutting-edge technology

VERMILION, Ohio (WJW) — The Vermilion school district is leading the way on a new form of school security in Ohio.

Last year, they were the first school to install 911 Inform, a piece of technology provided by Cleveland-based SecureTec.

After many drills using the system, superintendent Dr. David Hile said they feel comfortable using the system and recognize how useful it would be if there were ever an active threat.

“We can’t say it won’t ever happen here. We hope it won’t happen. We’re going to prepare like it will and hope that it never happens,” Hile said.

The system cost more than half a million dollars, Hile told Fox 8, but they were able to get a $300,000 grant from the state, and used funds from a safety and security levy passed in Vermilion.

”I’ve always considered safety and security to be job one. If you don’t do that well then other things really can’t happen effectively, so I feel you have to put your money where your mouth is,” Hile added.

The 911 Inform system connects the pagers, phones, cameras, and doors in all three of Vermilion’s schools – which are all on the same campus – and gives 911 dispatchers access to them if an alarm is triggered.

They also have an invisible “geo-fence” which can locate the precise location of any 911 call. It lets first responders know the exact building and room to go to.

“So that’s just not the high school address, and then it’s on the first responders to find out is it the gymnasium, is it room 301? That information has to get to first responders,” Dan Speigal said.

Speigal is the owner of SecureTec. He installed 911 Inform in Vermilion and has since brought it to three other Ohio school districts.

He showed Fox 8 how they can trigger alarms, send messages to police and alert people in the building when there’s an emergency.

The system can also be useful if there’s ever a medical emergency.

Hile noted that the ability to get first responders in quickly was, for him, the biggest draw to this technology.

“As soon as I learned about the details of it and the powers of it, and the amount of time it would save in an emergency, I wanted to find a way to make it happen,” Hile said.

He said any school district looking to increase security should look into 911 Inform and getting a grant from the state to help pay for it.

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