image description
Lt. Col. Thomas Grady and CBREPC Treasurer Ray Ferrin at Wednesday's meeting.

FBI, Homeland Security Bringing Active Shooter Seminars to WMass

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story
LENOX, Mass. — With active shooter situations happening all over the world, the FBI and Homeland Security Council want to make sure local emergency responders are prepared.
 
In March, the Western Massachusetts Homeland Security Council is teaming up with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state police to hold a seminar for first responders and related organizations throughout Western Massachusetts. The focus of the symposium at Deerfield Academy will be to make sure all organizations that could be involved know what to do.
 
"This is not going to be a law enforcement day," Lt. Col. Thomas Grady told the Central Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee on Wednesday morning. "They really want to talk to everybody in the community."
 
Grady said he hopes to fill all 600 seats available with an array of groups — from schools and universities to business owners to hospitals and first responders. Grady said the plans for the day haven't been fully confirmed. Organizers are waiting for confirmation from a behavioral specialist from the FBI who would speak and are hoping a survivor from the Virginia Tech shooting will agree to present as well.
 
At the end of April, the security council also wants to hold a full-scale drill at Six Flags in Agawam. Grady said responders would have full use of the amusement park to perform a number of trainings — from helping people stuck on a roller coaster to water rescues. The security council is currently in the planning for both that and a tabletop exercise, which will be coupled with the trainings.
 
It is training and planning exercises like those that stem from groups like the Central Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee. Similar committees exist throughout the commonwealth and on Tuesday the Central Berkshire and the Southern Berkshire committees received recertification for another five years of operations. 
 
"As a region we had Southern Berkshire come in and Worcester County come in. Five of the seven statewide were in our region," said Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency's regional manager Bruce Augusti said. "There are a lot of people committed to this program as a region."
 
Chairman Robert Czerwinski said the recertification ceremony on Tuesday provided an opportunity for him to network with committees from other parts of the state. He said many committees have the same planning needs, such as how to respond to hazardous materials events on rail corridors.
 
"We're no different from everybody else," Czerwinski said.
 
In the Berkshires particularly, Czerwinski praised the participation from large companies such as General Dynamics and representatives from departments of public works, two sectors of representation many other committees struggle to get to attend meetings.
 
The committee brings together representatives from an array of sectors to plan and train for hazardous material incidents. However, its operations lead to smaller groups who operate in the same manner for other events. 
 
Grady said emergency management groups are meeting and planning to provide proper security and response for Mercy Weekend in Stockbridge, which attracts thousands of visitors. Similar groups crop up for events such as the Josh Billings Runaground or the upcoming Polar Plunge. The planning work includes not only looking at a massive incident but also what happens if a bus breaks down and dozens of people need shelter from the cold while they wait for repairs.
 
The gathering of the different disciplines sometimes find oversight as simple as notifying dispatchers of upcoming events. Berkshire County sheriff's office dispatcher Mike Britton used the example of fireworks being launched for events at places like Jiminy Peak. He said neighbors who don't know the event is happening will call and report explosions, leading dispatchers to trigger a larger response than they would have had they known about the fireworks.
 
"A lot of times we are the last one to find out," Britton said. "If we know ahead of time we can watch how we allocate resources."
 
Knowing ahead of time will allow the dispatchers to know where there are concentrations of personnel and equipment and manage the dispatching more effectively.
 
In speaking of Jiminy Peak, Hancock Fire Chief Dave Rash said many times skiers call 911 for crashes or injuries on top of the mountain. Responders are dispatched and often even ski patrol doesn't know what occurred. Rash said some Hancock firefighters are on the patrol and others have the radio frequencies of ski patrol to ease communication. Czerwinski said those calls are not just happening at Jiminy but also at Bousquet in Pittsfield as well. 
 
In other business, the committee is looking to bring in the Salvation Army to discuss resources that organization could provide. With a reorganization of the Red Cross, Grady said the local resources have "fallen off the wayside" and he hopes soon the responders will have a better handle on resources. Augusti said the Salvation Army has increased its work in support at incidents and during a recent flooding event; it was there before the Red Cross to provide food and blankets for displaced residents.
 
"It's obvious that [the Red Cross] is spiraling downward," he said.
 
Augusti suggested bringing in a representative from the Red Cross to present on which resources the local departments would have at their disposal during an event.

Tags: emergency committee,   emergency drill,   FBI,   homeland security,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories