Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has committed to buy 3,300 shelter-in-place backpacks at a cost not to exceed $427,905. Officially known as “Complete Shelter in Place Emergency Preparedness Backpacks”, they are designed to ensure schools are prepared should students need to shelter in place as a result of a variety of emergency situations.
At last week’s board meeting, the MNPS school board committed to the purchase of the bags for the upcoming school year.
The bags are manufactured by School Health Corporation, an Illinois company specializing in school safety supplies. They will be distributed to district schools next Fall. Each bag comes equipped with the following items:
- 1 Metal Door Jammer to Prevent Entrance
- 1 Emergency Crank Flashlight/Radio/Phone Charger
- 20 MayDay Water Pack 4oz
- 1 Emergency Whistle
- 3 Rescue Blankets
- 1 Pair of Dotted Poly-Cotton Gloves
- 2 Rain Ponchos
- 3 Tissue Packets
- 1 Duct Tape Roll , 2 in. x 10 ft.
- 4 Face Masks with Earloops
- 10 Aspirin Tablets
- 10 Ibuprofen Tablets
- 1 Deck of Playing Cards
- 1 Windlass Tourniquet
- 1 Banded Back-up Tourniquet
- 1 Hemostatic Blood-Clotting Gauze Pad
- 1 Hema-Seal Trauma Dressing
- 4 Trauma Pads
- 2 Protective Nitrile Gloves
- 4 Sterile Gauze Pads, 3″ x 3″
- 1 First Aid Tape Roll
- 1 Padded Splint
- 2 Triangular Sling Bandages
- 2 CPR Face Shields
- 1 First Aid Guide
- 1 Instant Cold Pack
- 6 Protective Nitrile Exam Gloves
- 30 Fabric Bandages, 1″ x 3”
- 30 Plastic Bandages, 3/4″ x 3”
- 25 Antibiotic Ointment Packets
- 32 Alcohol Wipes
- 9 BZK Towelettes
- 5 Hand Sanitizers
- 1 Conforming Gauze Roll, 2″ x 4 yards
The contract is funded through a Federal Grant.
The bags normally run $303.99 a piece. If purchased at that rate, the cost would be just shy of a million dollars.
As part of the projected cost, MNPS Student Health Services is coordinating with Vanderbilt University Medical Center to train teachers on how to utilize the backpacks in the event of an emergency.
The School Health Corporation contract was part of the consent agenda, which passed by a vote of 8-0 without discussion.
The purchase of the backpacks comes as MNPS reviews its school safety policies in response to the recent tragedy at Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School.
Last month, Metro Council, at the urging of MNPS, failed to pass a resolution that would have directed the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to conduct an evaluation of the safety plans and measures of the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.
MNPS School board chairman Rachael Elrod told Fox 17 News, “School systems can buy every piece of safety equipment on the market, but all of it added together cannot make the same improvement in school safety as much as reasonable legislation.”
Elrod added, “MNPS has thoughtful and comprehensive active shooter plans that have been made with MNPD and are regularly evaluated and pressure tested because we believe the safety of our students and staff is paramount. Our commitment to this responsibility and the effectiveness of our planning should be evident by how thoroughly and quickly we responded to the Covenant shooting. Though we have no relationship nor partnership with them we dispatched staff and resources – bus drivers, counselors, and even our Chief Operating Officer – to help fill in their safety plan needs within minutes of the attack.”
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TC Weber is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. He also writes the blog Dad Gone Wild. Follow TC on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]. He’s the proud parent of two public school children and the spouse of a public school teacher.
Photo “Backpacks” by NARA and “Assembly Line” by School Health Corporation.
