Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy plans to start construction soon to improve security features at its main entrance and finish the work by the end of September.
Security is always a high priority at HBHA, Head of School Adam Tilove said. The project’s construction will not disrupt the school’s normal operations.
“You can never be too secure,” Tilove said. “It’s really important for us to always be thinking ahead and investing in security, and making sure that we’re slowly but consistently adding to our feeling of security and making sure that we’re taking care of the kids.”
HBHA is installing bullet-resistant glass at its main entrance, giving the school the ability to allow visitors into an enclosed glass area so they can be viewed by administrative staff for secondary entry. At the front office area, visitors either will be credentialed or refused entry. This is very similar to public school entrances and procedures in Johnson County public schools.
The school also is installing cameras with improved technology. It replaced its over 30-year-old intercom system in August.
Chuck Green of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, director of community security (covering the Jewish Community Campus and other local Jewish facilities), helped HBHA Front Office Manager Carol Pfau put together a grant request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the project. He also helped with a similar grant request for The J. Both grants were awarded in 2020.
Green’s assistance with The J’s security grant will move forward the installation of optical turnstiles, shown to be an effective security practice. Green also assisted with High Holiday security planning for some congregations.
Construction related to HBHA’s security project was delayed because of supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Green said. Technology components and bullet-resistant glass were especially hard to get.
“Right now, the front entrance is basically glass,” he said. “You could knock your way through it. The new one will be bullet resistant. Everything else in the school is pretty much locked down.”
HBHA has had metal detectors since 2018, paid for by another Homeland Security grant.
The timing of the school’s project stems from the ongoing need for security at Jewish institutions, Pfau said.
“I think it’s really important and a priority,” she said. “Anyone that’s in this building, they’re family. And so, I will do anything I can to protect my family.”
New sukkah courtyard
HBHA also is under way on its new Sarah “Auntie” Ozar Sukkah Courtyard. Work started in early June and is scheduled for completion later this month, Pfau said.
The area for the sukkah and outdoor learning needed renovation because it was not being used to its full potential, Tilove said. The prior sukkah was old and deteriorating. The area looks bigger now because it was cleared of overgrown bushes, creating more usable space.
HBHA wanted to offer a better “place to learn, study, sit and have lunch — a welcoming area that people would really want to use,” he said.
“It really is a huge benefit in lots of ways,” Tilove said. “It’s the first thing people see when they come up to the building.”
By Jerry LaMartina,
Contributing Writer