By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Schools districts around the state should have security guards in their schools and require students and teachers to wear identification badges, according to a state task force looking to improve school safety.
Those represented some of the 42 recommendations contained in a report released Thursday by an 11-member task force that lawmakers created two years ago to examine the issue. The recommendations run the gamut from suggestions on one hand to calling for legislative or regulatory action on the other.
“The task force’s efforts are to be applauded and their recommendations should be given urgent and serious consideration,” said Assemblyman Jack M. Ciattarelli (R-16) by email. “Considering the importance of school security, we should now work in earnest on a implementation plan for as many of these recommendations as possible.”
For instance, the task force said school districts should “work with local law enforcement to develop strategies for the placement of carefully selected school resource officers in all school buildings,” read part of the 59-page-report. That could take the form of police officers, retired police officers or private security guards.
Yet in that report, the members addressed the pros and cons of having police in schools.
On one hand, their presence would deter crime. Yet the other view is “that actions taken by police officers will result in criminalizing behavior that may otherwise have been handled at the school level if not for the intervention by police in schools,” the report said.
In terms of whether the security on school grounds should be armed or not, the task force said that decision “rests solely with the chief school administrator.”
The Assembly education committee plans to have hearings in the fall on school security.
For her part, Assemblywoman Liz Muio (D-15) said Friday said she would not favor dictating to schools whether they have an armed guard. She believes that decision is better made at the local level.
“Clearly, it’s going to depend on the school district,” she said.
The superintendents of Princeton, West Windsor-Plainsboro and Montgomery did not respond to emails seeking comment on the report.
The task force was led by state Education Commissioner David Hespe and director of the state office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Christopher Rodriguez, both of whom said in prepared statements that the task force had built its recommendations on the work the state has already done through the years to make schools safe.
“Protecting our children during school hours and at after-school activities is an around-the-clock job that requires a strong working relationship among law enforcement, school officials, parents and the community,” Mr. Rodriguez said in a release that the Department of Education issued.
For its part, the 200,00-member New Jersey Education Association said that it appreciated any recommendations that make schools safer.
“The more secure you can make schools, the better,” said NJEA spokeswoman Dawn Hiltner by phone Friday.
Some of the proposed requirements would carry a financial cost to districts. Ms. Hiltner said that if the Gov. Christie administration is serious about making schools safer, the state should provide the money to meet those mandates.
“You can’t really put a price on student safety,” she said.
Other recommendations in the report call for improving response time to incidents and requiring districts to provide two-way radios. Also, the state should form the New Jersey School Safety Specialist Academy to act as “a central repository for best practices, training standards and compliance oversight in all matters regarding school safety and security.”
