Maine School Administrative District 17 has secured a $500,000 COPS grant to upgrade surveillance technology inside and outside its buildings districtwide. (Courtesy photo)

A major summer assignment for the Oxford Hills School District has been several safety upgrades, replacing obsolete access and installing security monitoring systems at all buildings in the eight-town district.

Last September, Maine School Administrative District 17 approved the security plan, developed by its safety committee, of a more than $1 million investment over three years.

SAD 17 is implementing the improvements through a $500,000 COPS grant received last year and is responsible for matching $167,000 of the grant.

Superintendent Heather Manchester said the school board has committed $500,000 to continue security and safety upgrades over the next two fiscal years.

Oxford Hills received 27% of an overall $1.8 million package from COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program awarded to Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

“These enhanced systems will provide both audio and visual alerts, ensuring that all students and staff receive important announcements quickly and clearly,” Manchester said in an email. “It is part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining safe and security learning environments for our students and staff.”

The 2024-25 school year’s priorities included updating emergency operations plans and aligning them with federal readiness and emergency management standards. Additional focus was to expand emergency training for all staff, in partnership with the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency and law enforcement departments, among others.

For 2025, security priorities shifted to building safety, with several projects being carried out through two phases.

Over the summer, security cameras and new notification systems were completed at all the district’s schools, including the Legion Memorial Elementary School in West Paris and Streaked Mountain School in Oxford.

Access control, including replacing each school’s entrances with doors that have higher grade security features, is underway.

Manchester said recently that the first phase would be completed before the start of classes at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris, Guy E. Rowe Elementary School in Norway and at Paris and Oxford Elementary schools.

The second phase for upgraded access control for both campuses of Oxford Hills Middle School in Paris and Oxford, Harrison Elementary School, Hebron Station School, Otisfield Community School and Central Office in Paris will be completed by the end of the 2026-27 fiscal year.