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1-16 and 17-13 School Security in the News
NJ Spotlight - New Jersey Puts Focus on School Lockdown Drills in Wake of Newtown Tragedy…State augments rigorous regulations to further protect students and staff against the unthinkable

Star Ledger - Mercer County schools enhance security after Sandy Hook shooting

Star Ledger - Schools to face unannounced security checks in wake of Newtown massacre, state Ed. Dept. says "State officials will conduct unannounced security drills and visits at New Jersey schools as a way to check security preparedness..."

Politickernj - N.J. needs to examine 'violence control' in wake of Conn. shootings, Christie says "Gov. Chris Christie announced plans Wednesday to respond in the coming days to the Newtown, Conn., shooting..."

NJ Spotlight - New Jersey Puts Focus on School Lockdown Drills in Wake of Newtown Tragedy…State augments rigorous regulations to further protect students and staff against the unthinkable

By John Mooney, January 17, 2013 in Education|Post a Comment

In the weeks and months following the Newtown, CT, mass killing, much of the attention in schools has been on lockdown drills and how they can be practiced and adjusted to prevent or at least minimize casualties in the event of an armed intruder.

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They’re tough questions, but growing all too real. And there are others: Are teachers and staff prepared to respond protect themselves and their children? Are effective alerts in place, ones that warn of the presence of an "active shooter"? Can each room be secured and everyone in it shielded from harm?

In the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy, New Jersey school officials have repeatedly said that the state’s requirements are as strict as any in the nation, calling for ongoing security planning and specific lockdown and active-shooters drills several times a year.

Now, state officials said they will step up their efforts to make sure those requirements are being met.

In a presentation to the State Board of Education yesterday, officials said that they will start conducting unannounced visits and drills in selected districts to ensure that the proper steps are being followed.

Anthony Bland, the state Department of Education’s coordinator of school preparedness and emergency planning, said that there would be a 10-point checklist for security teams to run through when visiting schools and evaluating drills.

“Do the people know what they are doing? Are they moving with a sense of urgency? Are the doors locked? Was it all done in a timely fashion?” Bland asked afterward, listing a few of the points that are still being fine-tuned by the state’s School Security Task Force.

State Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said that he believes schools by and large comply with the requirements and are well-prepared, but the extra evaluations will help reinforce that.

“New Jersey has long been a leader in preventative measures and preparation, and I think continuing down that path finds the right balance between safety and a supportive learning environment for kids,” Cerf said afterward.

“While districts have always free to use that as a floor and add additional measures, we think that floor is very high,” he said.

The spot checks are one of several steps that officials said will help districts be better prepared in case the unthinkable occurs. Other security innovations include refresher courses this spring across the state for school administrators and a template for districts to document and catalogue their ability to respond.

The first school safety newsletter issued by the School Security Task Force went out to districts last week as well.

Bland was reluctant to comment on specifics when asked if the state’s security measures would have helped at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, where an intruder shot his way into a locked building.

“No matter what we do to ensure the safety of our schools, we cannot stop all evilness and senseless acts of violence,” Bland said in an interview. “But what we can be confident in is if our schools and staff in this state are practicing and drilling their plan, it can minimize disruptions and those put in harm’s way.”

“If our schools drill appropriately, it can eliminate the increased numbers of casualties,” he added. “That’s a fact.”

He also said that there were some lessons to be learned from the Newtown shooting and from the experiences of other schools and states. For instance, is the use of code words to alert staff to a lockdown the best approach when there may be parents or volunteers in the building?

“The one thing we are noticing is a move to common language,” Bland said. “Schools use codes to initiate a response, but that may not be the most effective and timely.”

He also said that there should be new guidance to enable schools close to each other to conduct drills together. He also suggested that drills should be practiced at different times of day, such as when students are at lunch or coming off the bus.

“During the change of classes, that is a very effective way for a school and its administrators to test their plan,” he said.

 

Star Ledger - Mercer County schools enhance security after Sandy Hook shooting

By Alyssa Mease/The Times of TrentonThe Times, Trenton
on January 17, 2013 at 7:30 AM, updated January 17, 2013 at 7:32 AM

The Newtown, Conn., school shootings are having a ripple effect right here in Mercer County.

Robbinsville school officials plan to meet with local police to discuss the merits of adding armed guards to their buildings; and Ewing public schools have already increased perimeter supervision and door checks in all of their buildings. Tomorrow, school officials from throughout the state will meet in Ewing at The College of New Jersey to discuss school security.

“You can’t be secure through guns and guards. What creates security is caring — caring and attentiveness,” said Trenton school board President Toby Sanders.

Though Robbinsville Superintendent Steven Mayer stressed that no decision has been made about adding armed guards to its schools, he said the school board will not rule out the possibility. However, any changes would not go into effect until the next school year, he said.

“We’re being as responsible as we possibly can and we’re being methodical,” Robbinsville school board President Mike Reca said. “We will get the community’s input as to what they feel, what their approach is, and where their heads are at in terms of what they want to do for their kids.”

The problem with trying to make changes to security during the school year is that there isn’t much surplus in the budget to use for things like hiring guards or installing security cameras, said Frank Belluscio, communications director of the New Jersey School Boards Association. There is a 2 percent cap on tax levy increases that districts must abide by each year, and they are not allowed to retain large amounts of surplus money, he noted.

POLICE EXPERTISE

Meetings with the local police departments are the easiest and cheapest way for school administrators to asses a building’s security, said Raymond Hayducka, president of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police and the South Brunswick Township police chief. He said school districts and local police are required by law to meet several times a year to discuss security.

Police and school officials can walk through buildings together to asses the safety issues, Hayducka said. He also said the most basic security measure a school can take is to lock the doors.

Sanders said that some buildings in the Trenton schools have faulty doors and those are being repaired.

But some districts, such as Robbinsville, have taken locking doors to the next level. Mayer said the local high school now has an “air-locked lobby” that requires visitors to be buzzed through two sets of doors. This same door locking system will be added to the middle and elementary schools next fall, Mayer said.

Federal funding used to be available for school districts to add armed guards to school buildings, but that funding was cut several years ago. In Trenton, those expenses are not optional, Sanders said.

“The thing to remember is that because we are Trenton, an urban district, we spend twice the amount of money on security that average school districts spend,” he said.

Sanders said that the elementary schools in Trenton already have three security guards, the middle schools have hand-held wand metal detectors, and the high school has a walk-through metal detector.

MONEY FOR SAFETY

Adding more security requires money, and the Trenton Schools may have enough, Sanders said.

“I just don’t see us adding additional security; we have a lot of security already. I’m not saying we won’t add any. We may find we need to add an extra guard at the high school, or an extra guard at the junior high school. And we would do that,” Sanders said.

Belluscio said there are three incidents he can remember that have caused districts to seriously re-evaluate their security. The first was the shooting at Columbine High School in April 1999, then the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and now the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December.

“New Jersey has very, very strong school security procedures,” Belluscio said. “But so did Connecticut.”

Belluscio said the School Boards Association held meetings after the Sandy Hook shooting to discuss school security procedures in New Jersey, and to discuss ways to improve.

The state Department of Education’s Office of Preparedness and Emergency planning announced Wednesday that, in addition to scheduled visits, officials will conduct unannounced security drills at schools in the state.

The School Boards Association will host a forum at The College of New Jersey in Ewing tomorrow with panel discussions on security and a keynote speech delivered by Rutgers professor Maurice Elias about the connection between safe schools and students’ success. The event, which begins at 9 a.m., is free and open to the public.

Contact Alyssa Mease at amease@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5673.

Star Ledger - Schools to face unannounced security checks in wake of Newtown massacre, state Ed. Dept. says

By Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-LedgerThe Star-Ledger
on January 16, 2013 at 1:46 PM, updated January 16, 2013 at 2:55 PM

State officials will conduct unannounced security drills and visits at New Jersey schools as a way to check security preparedness in the wake of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., state officials said today.

The state Department of Education's Office of Preparedness and Emergency Planning will conduct 10-point spot checks in schools, and may conduct live drills, state officials said.

School officials will also receive updated guidance on the state's laws and regulations, Anthony Bland, the Office of School Preparedness and Emergency Planning told the state Board of Education today.

The surprise visits will be in addition to regular scheduled visits by state security teams.
School security has been in the forefront of educators' minds since the tragic killing of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last month. The state board of education requested a presentation on security.

Many schools around the state have already begun adding police presence and taking other steps to beef up security, and the New Jersey School Boards Association has a forum on school security set for Friday. More than 600 educators are expected to attend.

New Jersey already has one of the nation's most stringent set of school security requirements. Among other things, schools are required to hold twice per year an active shooter drill; an evacuation drill; a bomb threat drill; and a lockdown drill.

Politickernj - N.J. needs to examine 'violence control' in wake of Conn. shootings, Christie says

By Matthew Arco | January 16th, 2013 - 4:05pm

 

STAFFORD TOWNSHIP – Gov. Chris Christie announced plans Wednesday to respond in the coming days to the Newtown, Conn., shooting.

The governor, responding to a question from a resident during his 100th town hall, said he plans to make some sort of the announcement “very, very soon.” Christie stressed the conversation may not necessarily be about gun control, explaining the state needs to look at “violence control.”

“I’ll have more to say about that in the next few days,” said Christie, who didn’t go into additional details but recapped statements he made in the weeks following the Connecticut shooting.

“I want to make one point on this, though,” he said, adding “if all we do is talk about gun control” then problems will not be solved.

“I’ll have some more things to say this week about how New Jersey is going to approach it,” he said.



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