Governor’s school safety plans are old hat to local districts

By: Cara Latham
   While Gov. Jon Corzine recently announced plans aimed at improving safety in schools around the state, some local school districts seem to already be ahead of the game.
   The governor spoke at two schools in Burlington County on Oct. 19 about the School Security Task Force dubbed SAVE, for Strategic Actions for Violence Elimination, that would be formed if legislators approve.
   The plan calls for collaboration between officials in the school districts, law enforcement, and community members and will require that schools around the state — including nonpublic and parochial schools — have a memorandum of agreement with their local law enforcement agencies on protocols, procedures and safety practices, Gov. Corzine said.
   In addition, Gov. Corzine said he wanted mandated security drills to be performed in conjunction with the procedures set forth in the memorandums, and that he will allot more money for training school resource officers in next year’s state budget to work on school violence prevention, response and recovery issues.
   The state standards and guidelines for school security would also be updated for school lockdown, emergency evacuations, bomb threats, risk and violence assessments and public information procedures, including a state DOE Web site that would provide information to students, school officials and parents.
   Safety on school buses, which have been the site of some violence in other parts of the state, he said, would also fall under the memorandum. Drivers would have to be instructed on following the protocols and procedures for safety set forth in the memorandum between the school districts and local law enforcement. In addition, Gov. Corzine said those school districts who have taken the responsibility will be recognized by the School Security Task Force.
   Plumsted Superintendent Jerry North said the district already has "much of it covered," and that dialogue and open communication already exists between the school district and the Police Department and that a signed agreement is in the works.
   The district also already has the mandatory drills for evacuations, lockdowns, and bomb threats, and a school resource officer provided by township police.
   But he said the added measures for the busing safety would definitely be "an increase of the plan. Anytime you have something that’s brought out that increases what you’re doing, it only makes it better," he said.
   Mr. North said he is, however, concerned with an expenses that might be added to the school district’s budget if the plan were to be implemented.
   "My biggest concern is that as long as he’s mandating, he’s funding it."
   In addition, the new SAVE initiative could further help the school district, he said.
   "I think we’re very conscious of school safety," Mr. North said. "Again the thing that’s the most difficult part of it is that educators are not experts in safety," because "it’s not something that is part of the mindset all of the time." Similarly, Upper Freehold interim Superintendent Robert Smith said the school district already has plans similar to what Gov. Corzine has proposed.
   The district’s schools already perform regular school security drills and exercises and have had lockdown drills already this year.
   "For us, it’s just a matter of what the guidelines require us to do," said Dr. Smith. "If the state requires something a little different from what we have, then we’ll have to adjust."
   Dr. Smith also said that for at least 10 years and perhaps about 20 years, a memorandum of agreement between the school district and prosecutor’s office has tied in with the local law enforcement — in this case, the Allentown Police Department and the state police that patrol Upper Freehold.
   "It may be that now we’re going to have a new component to that," he said.
   In addition, the school district already has a school resource officer and a state trooper on campus stationed every day in the high school. But he also goes around to the other schools in the district as well.
   And in district schools, all the doors are locked from the outside. At the high school, a security monitor, who is stationed at the door that is unlocked, issues badges to visitors and is equipped with a radio in case of an uncooperative visitor. In this case, the school resource officer would respond. In addition, there are security personnel located at other schools.
   Dr. Smith said having D.A.R.E. officers at the school is under development, and the planned statewide DOE Web site should be "helpful," he said.
   But like Mr. North, Dr. Smith said the school bus security plan is something the district does not have.
   "Once we get the guidelines from the task force on this, we’ll make certain that we meet those requirements," he said.
   But overall, Dr. Smith said officials are "proud" of the district’s security plans even though "it may be that we need to add a thing here or there."
   Further, the school district has been continuously following recommendations that have come from the state in recent years.
   "We’ve implemented the things that have already come through, and that’s helped us reach the point where we are now," he said.
   When asked if he thinks the school district would have been fine without the new plan, he said, "I think it’s good for us always to review what’s in place and see if there are improvements that can be made. I think we may be one of the best-prepared schools around. So, it may be more necessary in other places than it is here to have some encouragement by the state to get involved in some of these things."
   If the task force were to recognize school districts for their safety efforts, "unless the standards are very, very high, it’s likely that we’re going to qualify for that," said Dr. Smith.
   Washington Township School District Superintendent John Szabo said the school district is also already in good shape because the district updates the school security plans every year, and school officials have regular meetings with its own security task force, which includes Chief of Police Marty Masseroni, he said.
   Also, they’ve been running emergency drills that "four or five years ago, you wouldn’t have thought about," he said. "It’s something that we’ve done for the last couple of years."
   The district is also looking into creating a school security Web site, and the school resource officer and D.A.R.E. officer are already being trained on state guidelines and standards.
   "We’re doing our part to make certain our efforts are going to be coordinated" with local law enforcement, Dr. Szabo said. "I think we’re on the right track, and I think that all of our principals and all of our staff members are doing what they can do to improve schools’ security."
   He said that he is also confident the Washington school district will be one of the districts recognized by the state’s task force, and that any time efforts focus on improving school security, "you are doing the right thing."
   "I feel confident that we’re in pretty good shape, but by bringing attention to this, we’ll be in better shape," he said.