The security that has been in place in our schools is now being updated because of the shootings in Connecticut. No longer is a camera and a buzzer at the entrance door over-seen by a secretary deemed sufficient security. Things have changed, and so must communities.
The Director of Facilities has been meeting with school principals and head custodians and getting a feel for what is needed in their building. Obviously, each building is different. It is a daunting task for several reasons. Each building has a different entrance way and floor plan. Each building is used by the public in different ways. Securing multiple entrances changes with each structure. Parking lots and lines of sight are different. Access to rooms, cafeterias, gyms, locker rooms, music rooms vary with each building. Windows, passage ways, etc. The time frame in which to present a plan to the public before Deliberative Session is very short. And yet, it must be done. Things can not be put off.
There will be a meeting on January 22 to discuss what the District Office feels needs to be done to make our school buidings more secure. At that meeting, it is my understanding, the public can make their feelings known. The School Board will discuss things. When all is said and done, there will be a proposal and a cost for that proposal placed in an Article (Article 10) and then that will be brought to the Deliberative Session to be raised, lowered or changed as the Session wants. In the old days the Article would have been tweaked and voted on by that body at School District Meeting, but now the tweaked Article 10 will be voted on in the Election weeks later. The Article that leaves Deliberative Session may only be a facsimile of what is presented on the 22nd, or it may be verbatium. Time will tell.
There is a concern, not shared by everyone, however it is shared by me, that emotions at Deliberative may become counter-productive and produce an Article that could have a difficult time getting 50% of the vote at Election time. Should the tenor of negotiations at Deliberative run towards the childrens security at any cost – which would certainly be understandable – then it is possible that the cost to fund all that security could push the total on Article 10 to a point where it gets voted down in the Election, and then there would be a problem. A No vote on a huge sum of money would not be a No vote to protect our schools it would be a vote to tell the District to come back at a later date with a more reasonable proposal. Not the first time that has happened. And of course the reality is, no matter what the costs, there is no total solution that negates a determined threat.
It is my understanding that the Town has put in an Article for a School Resource Officer (SRO). I have not read the Article, but if it is to hire one police officer to place in the schools then I probably will not vote to support it. The high school has an SRO now. The Middle School had an SRO for several years, but no longer. Pulled out for budgetary reasons, I believe. Happened before, it will happen again in the future when budgets become tight. A political football. Besides, we have 5 buildings without an SRO, the hiring of one is a band-aid approach, and an expensive one.
I am in favor of a uniformed, armed prescence in all 6 of our school buildings. Every school day, every building. From the time the first teacher arrives until the last bus pulls out in the afternoon. That is basically my proposal. I would like the District to explore the feasibility of hiring 6 or 7 retired police officers/security personnel to be placed in the 5 buildings that do not have an SRO. This is how I envision this would go:
The uniformed security guard would have a position near the front entrance doors with a desk and monitors that show the grounds and all exterior doors via cameras. This could be in a small enclosed area, though I would prefer it to be a small open section of the front lobby. Reason for that is simple. An enclosed room is the same as a policeman cruising the neighborhood in a patrol car, noticable but impersonal, as opposed to the officer walking the beat, visible and personal. I think for our younger students that is very important. The buzzer to allow entry would still be controlled by the secretary in the office – the guard should not be bogged down letting late students into the building – but should the guard notice something that alerts him he will be in radio contact to tell her not to buzz someone in. And there-in lies the key to hiring retired police officers. That sense that something just isn’t right. That sixth sense that is acquired only through years of looking for things that just don’t seem right. That is the one thing that the rest of us don’t have.
A police officer has been trained over the years, during countless long nights as a patrolman in a small town where hardly anything is going on, to keep alert to even the smallest ripple in normalcy. Where those less trained might be bored by the normal day to day comings and goings in a school lobby- drop off children, pick-up children, drop off forgotten homework, bring in cookies for a team day, fix the copy machines- a police officer is well aware that things are always routine, until they are not. They aren’t bored by the routine, they welcome it. I know we can spend a lot of money and make things more secure, but without a trained/armed human prescence I think all we are going to do is spend a lot of money and make things a little more secure.
The number I read for an SRO was over $100,000. That was for one person, salary and benefits. I don’t know what we would need to pay retired police officers to entice them to do this job, but maybe we could hire 7 of them for not much more than the hundred thousand. No benefits. They are retired and have them. They have their pension. We need them for less than 180 days a year – 7 people for 5 buildings – and less than 8 hours a day. In the office they have a little Keurig machine. We supply the coffee. The lunch ladies bring him some lunch each day. In the beginning, parents drop off some cookies and pound cake for him. The kids learn his name and he says hi to them when they walk by. If there never was a Sandy Hook or a Columbine, this would still be a worthwhile idea.
If there are any retired police, security, military out there who have read this I am interested in knowing what you think of this idea. Specifically, could the town realistically expect to hire such people at such a reasonable wage for what amounts to part time work.
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Thanks for the article. Are you aware the elementary schools are open at 7am for the before school program? And, they are open until 6 pm for the after school program. Then the evening meetings, basketball, etc. The schools are wide open after the last bus has left. That needs to be addressed.
I don’t understand. President Obama said once he takes all the guns away schools will be safe. Why would we possibly need any security changes at our schools?
Oh wait….I forgot only his children and those of his rich friends get armed guards at their children’s schools. The rest of us get new cameras and buzzers. That will definitely stop someone with a gun from shooting out the front door and walking right in. Wake up folks. This is nothing more than “feel good” band aid. It doesn’t fix the problem. Armed security at each school for the foreseeable future and work on the mental health issues that our country have put on the back burner for so long.
In the Newtown incident, the shooter got into the school because he shot the windows out from the locked door. We need to address the issues from this incident.
Just because it was horrific, we do not need to spend money foolishly because it was horrific. Paying for more personnel is expensive and does not address the factors involved in the incident in my opinion.
To address the entrance into the school, make the glass and doors more bullet proof. This is a one time cost with little maintenance for follow-up years for the schools.
Second, have the school secretaries go through training on how to question people before buzzing someone in. The Jerusalem airport security famously does the same thing. I asks questions and knows how to read the responses to know who belongs inside a school.
If the school administration would like to get trained on guns and how to handle, we can do that. The guns can be safely put in administration in a safe for access. There are several administration personnel that are comfortable with guns already.
We can talk about mental health too but, this post is long enough.
Obama’s first executive order should have been Federal grants to install solid steel doors with bullet proof glass throughout the entire school. God forbid something bad happens the school staff is able to push a button, turn a key, or hit a switch and all doors automatically close and lock. The Connecticut shooter would have been trapped in a hallway with no doors to open.
How do we pay for it? Use the $2 Billion we’re currently sending to Iraq in foreign aid. Iraq produces close to 300 million barrels of oil per day. Why are we sending them any money Mr President?
So, does that mean that every window is going to be bullet-proof? That’s a lot of windows.
I wonder how Hollywood is going to make a movie with Obamafool unconstitutional executive orders? No more guns lefty.
When Doctor’s asked if you ware a seatbelt that was foolish. The Obamafool ruling of part of a Doctors assessment do you have gun or the common cold. Guess stupid is what stupid does and this is ridiculous.
Hiring a security officer is ok but that shouldn’t be the only solution. Security officers stick out like a sore thumb. They are easily identifiable in a place like a school and would be the first target for ambush by someone who is prepared. If your hiring one officer then what happens when they take a sick day?
In addition to an officer, there should be an unidentifed number of school staff that are trained in basic handgun marksmanship and safety. It could be teachers, janitors, administration, etc. The names of these volunteers would be confidential and they would be permitted to carry concealed. If one person is out sick or on vacation then there are others to cover. The weapon should NEVER be visible. I’m not suggesting that little silver-haired teachers walk around with a 44 Magnum exposed on there hip.
Keep in mind that these volunteers would NOT be asked to do hand-to-hand combat but to simply shoot straight and practice basic firearm safety.
Where is this meeting on the 22nd? This is the first I’ve heard of it.
KItty,
I believe that the article is talking about the School Board next Tuesday, January 22nd. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm and is held in the Town Hall in the Moose Hill conference room.
We have to start somewhere. We can’t keep saying “that’s a bad idea” or “that’s dumb” or “that’ll never work”. We have to try something and see how it goes. Sometimes all that is needed is a presence to make someone stop and take pause.
Sure, lets hire more police, and have one stand guard at every entrance to every school. Then the next lunatic with mental health issues will walk in and shoot children at a Chuckie Cheese, and arcade, bowling alley, state fair, childrens museum, science museum, aquarium, ski slope, etc…. Sorry, but I cannot support knee jerk reactions to real world events when we all know the following:
More people are killed with blunt objects every year than with guns
More people will be killed this month in Chicago than died in Newtown.
Very sad.
That is why concealed carry is so important. It isn’t possible to place armed security everywhere. We need to allow the public to defend itself. It boggles my mind that there wasn’t a single person in the Aurora movie theater that was armed, why, because that particular theater had a sign posted not allowing concealed firearms. The law abiding complied and we had a lunatic allowed to run wild.
A wise man once said, “An armed society is a polite society.”
That is why I brought up Chicago. They have more gun laws than anywhere else in America, yet people are shot and killed almost every day. I heard recently that in Massachusetts, the guns laws are commonly ignored by the courts. More gun laws will not help.
To: Londonderry School Board
From: Nate Greenberg
Date: January 18, 2013
Re: SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS
Enclosed you will find a memo from Chuck Zappala containing recommendations for the Security Warrant Article to enhance the building security (We will also have a power point presentation.). The presentation regarding security will be in several parts.
In order to frame the discussion, we will first present the procedures that are presently in place including the enhancements that were instituted since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. This information will be provided to you by the school principals (ask that you hold questions until they are all finished with their presentations).
After the above, Chuck Zappala, David Lecaroz and Peter Curro will present the administration’s recommendations for enhanced building security and respond to any questions the Board may have regarding same. As mentioned in Chuck’s memo, the recommendations are in line with meetings we have had with a senior administrator from the Department of Homeland Security (who is a parent in the district) and officials of the Londonderry Police Department.
In addition, present at our meeting will be Londonderry Police Chief William Hart and Captain Dussault, Division Operations Commander. They will be happy to respond to any questions regarding our proposal as well as respond to questions regarding the Town’s Warrant Article for an additional SRO and questions that may arise regarding personnel proposals that have been raised by the community. Another important aspect of school security is training of school personnel. We have had training in the past and Londonderry Police Department has volunteered to develop additional training for us which will be implemented on a continuing basis.
To: Nate Greenberg, Peter Curro
From: Chuck Zappala
Date: January 18, 2013
Re: Building Security Improvements
During the past 3 weeks Dave Lecaroz and I have met with a number of vendors and contractors to price out security improvements for all the schools. These improvements are based on advice and recommendations from officials at the Londonderry Police department and a senior administrator from the Department of Homeland security. The priorities are:
1. Restrict access beyond the lobby area to visitors until they are properly identified and checked in, and
2. Have the ability to communicate quickly with the LPD and with the other schools.
To implement these improvements we are proposing the following projects and equipment purchases:
Communications: Purchase 2 way radios (2 per building) with pre-programmed channels that will allow instant communication with the LPD dispatcher as well as direct contact with the other schools in case of an emergency. Install a number of “Panic Buttons” in each building that will send an alarm to the LPD and also notify the other schools that an incident is in progress.
Lobby and Vestibule Renovations and Card Access: Perform renovations to the main lobby in each school so that visitors will not have access beyond a secured vestibule area until they have signed in and received a visitor badge. Also install a card access system to operate doors in several locations at each school so that all doors can be locked while still providing access to authorized staff
Exterior Door Sensors: There are over 250 exterior doors throughout the district. Sensors will be installed on each door to provide a notification when unauthorized doors are opened or when authorized doors are kept open too long.
Video Security: At the High School we will replace some existing analog cameras with digital cameras. All the other schools will be upgraded to hybrid video DVR servers that will accept the existing analog cameras as well as additional analog and digital cameras.
Additional required work: Some of the work will be performed by school district employees. Expenses will include electrical supplies, lighting, painting, camera cables and power supplies and door retrofit hardware. We will also need to hire contractors to perform work on some door frames and make changes to the sprinklers and fire alarm systems.
The total budgetary cost for all the listed improvements is $466,200. If approved by the school board, and the voters in March, we will have specifications ready and do an RFP for several different contractor trades and vendors. Equipment could be ordered as soon as bids are approved, and some installations could begin right away, but the entire project would not be complete and functioning until mid to late August.
$466,200…wow…that kind of money is easy to spend when it’s coming from the taxpayers.
How about this?
-Send 12 School staff members to the Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. Have them take 2 or 3 classes. Cost aprox. $1,500 per person.
-Purchase 1 dozen Glock model 26 handguns – $550 each
-Purchase 1 dozen boxes of bullets – $15 each
-Purchase 1 dozen leather holsters – $50 each
Total cost – $25,380…problem solved.
The answer here is a detailed uniformed officers ! not part time ,retired or
former military mp’s
please remember that 3 of the six schools are across the street from the police station and we have 1 sro already! and if we are to pay anything to anyone let it be one of our own professionals that we now employ who have a working relationship with one another!
Sorry Harry, but I have to disagree. Putting a police officer at every school may make the school safer, but it won’t make our children safer. If a lunatic wants to kill children, what would stop him from attacking a bus in route to the school? Or as I said above, walk into a Chuckie Cheese? Better door locks, sure. Cameras, yes. These are one time costs, not a lifetime of costs.
But reading above, why are changes needed to the sprinkler system and fire alarm? No-one has tried burning a school yet, have they? Are these being tacked on since they suspect these security measures will get broad support, so these will be approved as well?