St. Paul's Lutheran School Association
St. Paul’s Lutheran School Association in Sedalia was originally founded in 1883 and other than a brief hiatus during the Great Depression, it has operated there ever since.
A new building was constructed at the corner of E. 7th Street and Massachusetts Avenue when the school reopened in the early 50s. Classes are still held there today with additions like new classrooms and a gymnasium.
Sedalia sits just south of Interstate 70 between Columbia and Kansas City and St. Paul’s is the only Lutheran school that serves the town’s roughly 22,000 residents. The school continues to operate in accordance with its purpose and mission statement: “providing Christ-centered, quality education in a caring and nurturing environment.”
The St. Paul’s Lutheran School Association’s enrollment has more than doubledin the last few years and 89 students are enrolled this year from pre-K to eighth grade. In July of this year, they merged with Our Saviour Lutheran Church, also in Sedalia, to begin a new partnership supporting the school.
Two years ago, Principal Tina Sutherland knew the school’s aging security infrastructure was insufficient for the challenges that modern schools face, and the church did not have the funding to replace their existing system on its own.
“We built a building in the 50s. We added onto that in the 60s, so we’re still in those existing buildings, and as you might imagine, we have trouble updating with technology and things because of that,” said Sutherland.
The Challenge
The school has served Sedalia families for decades, but aging security technology was a growing concern.
The school’s previous system consisted of analog security cameras, with several mounted inside the building, and only two exterior cameras. The exterior cameras also did not record video, said Sutherland.
“We had two entryway cameras, but they didn’t record,” said Sutherland. “We couldn’t play back anything, but they did help us keep security at our entrances.”
She knew the school had a problem, and the current situation was untenable, but she also knew the school did not have the funds to pay for the costly upgrades necessary to keep students and faculty safe.
Tech Electronics worked with longtime partner Kloppe Associates to help St. Paul’s apply for funding through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
The program provides federal funding for physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations in order to “integrate nonprofit preparedness activities with broader state and local preparedness efforts,” according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website.
The Solution
The grant application process was a group effort between many St. Paul’s Lutheran Church congregation members along with Sutherland, and Pastor Jeremy Freeman.
With the help of Janice Kloppe, from Kloppe Associates, St. Paul’s was able to secure just under $140,000 in funding from the NSGP, navigating bureaucratic red tape and multiple government shutdowns.
The funds were put towards new security window film from Safe Haven Defense and a $106,000 upgrade to their video surveillance system from Tech Electronics.
“(Kloppe) is just thorough, and she’s responsive,” said Sutherland. “She remembers every detail; she keeps everybody on the same page. If something doesn’t appear when it’s supposed to, she gets on and reminds people, prompts them in a professional, kind way. She just keps us all on the same path and going in the same direction.
The project depended on grant funding from the NSGP, and under the grant the new surveillance system had to meet specific federal requirements.
The grant specified a Genetec head-end server for the system, and budget constraints limited the options for system architecture.
Tech Electronics Solutions Designer Justin Schilling was able to assemble a system with a Genetec head-end integrated with 16 ONVIF-conformant cameras from Hanwha Vision.
“I took that as a challenge; I care a lot about my designs so I wanted to see how far I could push that while meeting the customer’s needs,” said Schilling.
The newly implemented system will provide administrators with vastly improved visibility across the campus, and just in time for the new school year.
“We’ll be able to record not only our indoor activity, but around our premises on the outdoor system,” said Sutherland. “It filled in a lot of blind spots for us, so now we can see virtually everywhere.”
For more information on how grant assistance can provide funding for your school’s project, and what security solutions are available, schedule a consultation.
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