CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) — Lieutenant Mike Cervantes with Urbana Police says in his twenty years in law enforcement, he has seen an increase of youth involved in gun violence. This comes after five teens were arrested for shooting outside an elementary school.
"The incident took place between six individuals. We later found to be juveniles. Well, at least five of them were, where they were shooting at one another," said Lt. Cervantes.
Booker T. Washington STEM Academy sits on the Champaign side of the dividing line with Urbana.
During Tuesday night's school board meeting, Champaign Unit 4 Superintendent, Dr. Sheila Boozer announced a few extra layers of security. This included a new platform with a panic button installed. Administration are trained to use RAVE/SwiftK12, a mass notification system that can be used in emergencies. The Champaign Police Department and Fire Department are also connected to this platform to receive the alerts.
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"Include using that panic button and when you push that, it investigates the situation to determine the type of response. So, they've been trained. Is it a fire, medical, police, or other as an active assailant," said Dr. Boozer.
The district will also add weapon detectors to middle schools. This comes after over a year ago, when detectors were installed in Unit 4 high schools.
"We provided weapon detection machines and systems at both high schools. That are now going to be moving some into our middle schools," said Dr. Boozer.
In the meeting, Dr. Boozer also addressed the city council's concerns about the school district not using over $500,000 of the city's Community Gun Violence Reduction Blueprint.
She said the district has been using the $32 million of COVID funds to address trauma and violence in their own way.
This includes providing for the lighting project near Garden Hills Academy, and enhancing security cameras throughout all campuses.
"Unit 4 is an educational institution. I just want to remind we are an educational, not a law enforcement agency. Our number one job is to educate the students in our district," said Dr. Boozer.
You can watch the full school board meeting here.
