By: centraljersey.com
Schools ready for safety drills
Evan Grossman
Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR – There was a time when school security drills consisted of an air raid siren directing students to take cover beneath their desks. During the Cold War, somehow this was going to protect children from a nuclear blast.
Times have changed, and with incidents like the Columbine, Virginia Tech and the Amish school shootings, and with new threats like terrorism shaping the world we live in, a new set of school security drills will go into effect across the state beginning Nov. 1, including in the East Windsor Regional School District.
"From Columbine forward, you could tell that school incidents were on the rise," Assemblyman Frederick Scalera (D), the primary sponsor of the new law said. "So we’re making sure our children are the most secure of any in the nation."
Last weekend was the fourth anniversary of the West Nickel Mines Amish School shooting. On Oct. 2, 2006, Charles Roberts IV barricaded himself inside a one-room schoolhouse and killed five students before taking his own life.
In response to that shooting, the state Department of Homeland Security established the School Security Task Force in 2007, which recommended that all schools in the state develop a curriculum to protect students if a similar situation occurred. The result of the task force’s findings is the passing of a new law that mandates all schools in New Jersey conduct a security drill, in addition to regularly scheduled fire drills, at least once a month.
The previous requirement was for two fire drills to be conducted each month. Now one of those drills will be devoted to school security in the hope that practicing these drills will make the students more comfortable in the event of a real crisis situation.
"The reasons that schools will be participating in these security drills is so we can identify any problems or weaknesses in our security plans in case we ever need to use them," Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer said. "By practicing for various security issues, we are better prepared to predict the responses of our students and staff in case of a real emergency."
Local schools will participate in one of four different drills each month, including evacuation, bomb threat, active shooter and lockdown.
While New Jersey is one of few states participating in such drills, according to state Department of Homeland Security spokesman Jose Lozano, it is expected that more states will adopt the security drills in coming years.
"We might be at the forefront," said Mr. Scalera, who also chairs the Homeland Security and State Preparedness committee. "No other state has mandated it like we are."
Students will be told whether they are taking part in a fire drill or a security drill when it happens.
"They would need to know that we are practicing something different then a fire drill," Dr. Forsthoffer said, "because the responses are different then a fire drill."
According to the state Department of Education’s School Security Unit, schools will provide emergency responders with 48 hours advance notice of any security drills they will be conducting. While emergency responders are not required by law to observe drills, the state encourages that schools invite them to attend and observe the four different types of security drills each year.
The new drills were unanimously approved by the school board on Sept. 27.
Mr. Scalera said the next phase of the law is to bring security drills to college campuses.
"I’m just trying to get us where we need to be," he said. egrossman @centraljersey.com.

