Board OKs defibrillators in high schools

 4 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By MARGARET REIST / Lincoln Journal Star

Machines designed to save the lives of people whose hearts suddenly stop beating will now grace the halls of Lincoln’s public high schools.

With little discussion, the Lincoln Board of Education on Tuesday approved a modified plan to install the devices — called automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs — in the high schools.

The original plan, brought before the board last summer, would have put the devices in all schools.

[+]Enlarge

The board voted down that proposal, citing liability and cost concerns.

State Sen. Marian Price, a former school board member and a trained nurse, was at the school board meeting Tuesday, hoping the board would pass the modified proposal.

She wasn’t disappointed.

“I am so pleased,” she said. “I could just hardly sit in my seat tonight.”

Price, who had championed the initial proposal, voted for a state law that provides immunity from civil liability for anyone who uses a portable AED for emergency care or treatment. She had lobbied individual board members, encouraging them to give the AEDs a try.

A consortium working to get the devices in all public buildings approached Lincoln Public Schools about putting them in the schools and had a grant and fundraising plan to pay for them.

After the board defeated the initial proposal, three board members had to agree to bring it before the board again.

At the last meeting, some board members said the more-limited proposal was easier to accept.

Board members Keith Prettyman, who had concerns about liability issues, and Doug Evans voted against the proposal Tuesday.

Price said she still would like to see the devices in all schools and believes that eventually that will happen.

“In my experience with the public, they will want them in all levels, not just high schools but middle schools and elementary schools,” she said. “Parent groups will say, ‘Please remember us, find the funding.’”

The consortium has raised $13,500 to pay for the cost and maintenance of the machines.

In other business Tuesday, the board:

* Approved several policy changes regarding school security. The changes require the board to consider security issues, including secured entrances, when building new schools and remodeling existing ones.

* Discussed whether it should take advantage of a part of the state aid law that allows school boards to exceed the levy limit to make up for reductions in state aid, and to increase the spending lid by 1 percent. This year, the board could exceed the levy limit by $3.2 million, though voting to do so doesn’t mean the board must do so. It will vote at the March 27 meeting.

In the past, the board has generally voted to do both, to keep its options open and retain spending flexibility. A tentative budget would lower the tax levy, but LPS finance director Tim Kemper recommended the board vote exceed the levy limit just in case projections are wrong.

“It’s a planning tool for this and future boards,” Kemper said.

Reach Margaret Reist at 473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com