By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY Safety was the word of the day at the Lower Middle School on Wednesday when school and police officials stopped by to talk about security protocols and upgrades throughout the district.
Like most school districts, the move to tighten school security is spurred by the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead just a few months ago. With the state in the thick of budget season, area districts are now starting to reveal some of its current and upcoming safety improvements.
Superintendent Nancy Gartenberg said more than 40 community members joined her, Business Administrator Tom Venanzi and Lt. James Curry that morning to learn about what their own district is doing to bolster security protocols in its five schools.
”We’re looking at a lot of different things and we want to make sure our schools are doing everything they possibly can within reason,” said Ms. Gartenberg later that afternoon. “We’re not looking to create a system where there’s no movement throughout the school day we’re trying to have reasonable measures to protect students and staff.”
The district’s most recent change has created a more formal and consistent visitor policy that is to be exactly the same in all five schools. Later that afternoon, an e-blast was sent outlining the new standardized procedure that all visitors must follow no matter how often they stop by. In roughly five minutes, all visitors will be required to buzz in and state their names, children’s names and their purpose for their arrival. They must report to the main office, show identification, sign in and wear a visitor badge. To leave, they must sign out and return their badges.
Prior to this, Ms. Gartenberg said visitor expectations were not the same in every school and that sometimes, frequent visitors wouldn’t report to the main office right away nor would they necessarily be asked to show their identification, sign in or wear a badge.
”The processes have not been consistent,” she added. “Now regardless of the school you’re in, you get the same treatment as a visitor.”
The new visitor protocols are already in effect throughout the district.
In addition, the district has also replaced and upgraded security cameras in certain locations such as at the front doors of the buildings, implemented a district-wide buzzer system and made improvements to doors and locking mechanisms. Also, alternate methods were added to its communication system in the event of a power failure.
Like many other school officials, Ms. Gartenberg said she was not comfortable in revealing all the details pertaining to protection measures and costs as it could result in potential future security breaches. However, in a prior phone interview, Mr. Venanzi confirmed the district has designated funds for all of the intended improvements in the district’s tentative $83.1 million budget. He was uncertain of the total cost at the time, but estimated it would “definitely be in the $500,000 range.”
The district is also considering bringing back “greeters,” or staff that physically comes into initial contact with visitors. Ms. Gartenberg said all the schools used to have greeters, but that the positions were eliminated in all the schools except for Orchard Hill Elementary back in 2010 due to budget constraints. There is also talk of enforcing a policy for outsiders who use the school buildings during the evening hours.
”We are not reacting; we are trying to thoughtfully consider our options and make the best decisions,” said Ms. Gartenberg.
Although she has barely been in the district a year, Ms. Gartenberg has already had experience with dealing with security-related issues. She was a principal in Flemington when the shooting occurred at Columbine High School in Colorado and a superintendent in the South Hunterdon district when a shooting took place at Virginia Tech University.
In addition, just as she was leaving to come to Montgomery, her former district was in the midst of a $20 million renovation project that included extensive security upgrades.
”Anytime an incident happens, all schools everywhere are forced to take a closer look and I don’t think there’s a school out there that hasn’t reflected on Sandy Hook Elementary,” said Ms. Gartenberg. “I don’t think there’s a lot that could have been done, but there are always things that could have been done.”
Ms. Gartenberg’s safety and security presentation will be shown again at the April 9 Board of Education meeting. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the media center at the Upper Middle School.

