$1.4 Million For Easton School Security?

The first phase of security upgrades at Easton Area schools could cost $1.4 million, the school board learned Tuesday night.

That figure—provided to the board by D'Huy Engineering—is nearly three times larger than the district officials projected two months ago.

D'Huy's proposal shows the construction for the security upgrades—assuming the board started looking for bids right away—happening between October 2013 and February 2014.

But the board came to no consensus on the work Tuesday, with D'Huy planning to return in June with an updated proposal.

"To me this is a good start," said district chief operating officer Michael Simonetta. "I don’t think this is something we should hurry into."

In March, Simonetta proposed a five-point, $500,000 plan to beef up school security, involving new cameras, new access cards, secure vestibules and adding more guards.

The board charged Simonetta with finding ways to upgrade security earlier this year in the aftermath of the

The first phase of the plan would involve installing the camera and access card systems, and reconfiguring several school buildings to include the new secure vestibules.

The $1.4 million estimate could go even higher, board President Robert Fehnel predicted, based on the nature of construction projects.

Jena Brodhead, president of the district's teachers union, had concerns about the work happening during the school year.

“That is a huge chunk of actual, real life construction time," she said, noting that it could disrupt the routine for elementary students.