MONROE: Local schools react to Conneticut shooting

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   As the news about the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut came out last week, many local officials tried to reassure worried parents.
   ”As you can well imagine, I was devastated when I heard the news of the tragedy,” said Jamesburg Superintendent Gail Verona in an email Friday afternoon. “My thoughts and prayers go out to the parents, families and all those involved in this horrific tragedy.”
   Monroe Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Hamilton also expressed similar feelings about the tragedy.
   ”My heart goes out to them, the families and the staff members,” said Dr. Hamilton said.
   School superintendents from the area wanted to make it clear that schools were still safe and their staffs are trained on how to respond to such incidents.
   ”I think it serves as a reminder to all of us that we have to be very vigilant that we are keeping our schools as safe as possible and to make sure our staff is well trained on how to respond in emergency situations like that,” Dr. Hamilton said.
   According to Dr. Hamilton, students in Monroe were unaware of the situation Friday at school.
   ”We haven’t said anything to kids directly about it,” Dr. Hamilton said.
   On Friday, he said he would be sending out an Alert Now telephone message which parents should have received by the time they return home from work Friday evening.
   ”I will be sending messages out to my parents just to reassure them about our safety precautions in our district and trying to just reassure them,” Dr. Hamilton said. “All of our buildings are secured and we have security officers in our schools so we have some precautions that are there already in place. We do lock down drills, we do active shooter drills twice a month.”
   Dr. Hamilton said that parents should be patient with the district in the coming days if they visit the district’s facilities.
   ”Be tolerant and patient with us if parents visit our schools,” Dr. Hamilton said. “ (It’s) not as easy to gain access, even though there are visitors with whom we are already familiar, to just indulge us as we go through our necessary security protocols.”
   Dr. Verona said she discusses and reviews the crisis management plan that is in place at Jamesburg’s School District.
   ”In keeping with our crisis management plan, we are required to have one fire drill and one school security drill each month,” Dr. Verona said. “The school security drills are lock-downs, active shooter lock-downs, non-fire evacuation drills, and bomb threat evacuation drills.”
   According to Dr. Verona, the district works year-round with the Jamesburg Police and she meets with the Chief of Police several times a year to review the procedures and make any adjustments.
   ”In light of this tragedy, I will be working with my administrative team to provide any needed support and counseling to our children and staff during this time,” Dr. Verona said.
   Cranbury School Vice-Principal, Michele Waldron, declined to comment on the situation Friday afternoon.
   In addition, there was no response from Jamesburg Police Department, Monroe Police Department or the Cranbury Police Department to questions from reporters.