Printer Friendly Version - Branford Continues Discussing Safe Schools

Parent Pete Hawley (foreground) discusses arming school security officers with members of Branford’s Board of Education (BOE) Communication Committee, on March 14. BOE members seen here include (from left) Shannen Sharkey, Vice Chair John O’Connor, and Chair Mike Krause. Photo by Pam Johnson/The Sound

On March 14, Branford’s Board of Education (BOE) shared what can be safely publicized about current school security and safety protocols and what’s being done to strengthen them. It was the second BOE committee meeting at which parents and students were invited to share concerns and ideas. Student representatives told the BOE while they see some improvements underway, kids still don’t feel safe.

A third session will be available as part of the next committee meeting on Wednesday, April 11.

An audience of about 40 attended the March 14 BOE Communications Committee. Some asked for direct answers to their questions from the school’s superintendent and BOE Chair Michael Krause. Two fathers, including one with nearly 30 years’ experience in state law enforcement, told the committee the district should arm school security officers with past police experience.

Committee Chair Joanne Borrus asked Superintendent of Schools Hamlet Hernandez to give an overview on current security practices and new layers being added soon. Hernandez was assisted by Assistant Superintendent Anthony Buono and Branford Police Youth Detective David Atkinson.

Hernandez said he would also make available a document by National School Safety and Security Services expert Kenneth Trump on certain things schools can do to create a safe environment, saying the most important take-away was likely Trump’s statement that “school safety and these critical-incident responses come down to people and procedures.”

To add to the district’s current, multi-layered security approach, a security audit with building analyses by a state-vetted expert is being looked into, with staff training based on audit feedback, said Hernandez. The district is also “reconstituting” school safe climate committees to meet monthly. The district is also implementing a grant, awarded in February, to change interior locks.

In addition, Branford Public School (BPS) has budgeted to add two more security guards, one at Walsh Intermediate School (WIS) as the WIS expansion project gets underway, and one at Indian Neck pre-school. Hernandez noted that Branford High School (BHS) currently has two security guards. Two years ago, a security guard was hired at Walsh Intermediate School (WIS). There are no security guards at the town’s elementary schools.

School buildings have interior/exterior video surveillance systems interfaced with the police, dedicated radio channels for schools, a district-wide channel for emergencies, a direct line of communication to fire and police, and a dedicated channel allowing police to monitor school radio traffic. When a situation takes place, parents are notified by district communications via text, email, voice mail, school website notification, and joint press releases, if needed.

Noting visitor management is something safety consultants feel districts can constantly work to improve, Hernandez explained visitors need to connect to the main office from outside via intercom, followed by double entry with controlled “buzzing in” through two sets of doors. Pitfalls to be avoided include complacency, familiarity, buzzing people in without looking, and holding doors open for others once one person is buzzed in, he said.

“That system is not designed to stop anything; it’s designed to slow everything down and also maintain a positive identification of somebody,” said Hernandez.

From the point when a visitor connects with the office, “they are under surveillance” said Hernandez.

“We can become very lax with this,” Hernandez cautioned. “It would almost seem silly if I asked someone I know if I can see ID, but these are habits and routines we need to get into in this day and age.”

School employees and substitute teachers wear ID badges. Custodians, facilities, and security personnel have distinguishable uniforms to help students quickly recognize a BPS staff member in an emergency. Schools hold monthly drills as required by the state, as well as a crisis action drill every three months.

In addition to Detective Atkinson, the district and Police Department philosophy is “every officer is a school resource officer,” said Hernandez. Officers “pretty routinely” visit school buildings to help establish a presence for students and to stay familiarized with floor plans. Police also conduct summer simulation exercises in school buildings, said Hernandez. Atkinson is also part of each school’s Safe School Climate Committee.

BOE member John Prins opened the feedback portion of the meeting with questions about BHS access and how students and teachers recognize and report students who may be troubled. Hernandez explained that advisory support discussions with students are in place to help them confidentially and safely report to staff. Police would be contacted in cases involving former students or strangers on campus perceived as a threat.

Parents also asked questions about the mental health piece of the puzzle, with some saying they feel the district poorly addresses bullying. One parent also asked why it’s “second nature” to prescribe drugs to troubled students instead of managing the issue otherwise, and also said the suggestion of “see something, say something” doesn’t match up to society and schools finding it “politically acceptable” not to acknowledge or invite discussion of a child who is seen as a potential problem.

Hernandez discussed school policies and protocols for recognizing and assisting students and families with mental health. The district employs three licensed clinical social workers and also retains a child psychiatrist to work with nurse practitioners and social workers in the district.

Several parents spoke out about what they felt was lax school security and poor emergency and follow-up communication between the district and parents. The number and type of drills being held was another issue raised by parents. One said a fire alarm set off at BHS on March 14 had unnerved many students and reportedly caused one teacher to start crying. Some parents called for more information to be given to students during a drill so they can understand what’s happening in the building. Others asked the BOE to make sure teachers are aware of every drill and procedures children should follow.

Hernandez responded making sure teachers were aware of protocols and responding properly to drills was his intention, but said it could be difficult to ensure that of every person in an organization the size of BPS.

“I just heard today a teacher was crying. That’s unsettling to me...and I understand how difficult this is, but the expectation is that the teachers do know, and that the teachers understand their stewardship, acting in loco parentis, that they have to keep their students safe, and whatever that means. It’s hard to say that, but that’s the reality, and I think we see that played out,” said Hernandez.

“So do teachers know their roles and responsibilities? I think they do,” he continued. “Will teachers, because they’re human, perhaps not respond in the way that they would have thought they would have responded? I think that’s possible, but I think we’ve seen, sadly, wonderful examples of teachers doing what they never even imagined they would have to do.”

Parent Pete Hawley said layers of security discussed March 14 are understandable, but they aren’t enough; because “bad people looking to harm people don’t follow rules. They don’t follow your sign that says, ‘Go over here and sign in.’ They don’t sit there and wait for [a guard] to look at a camera.”

Hawley asked the BOE to bring in armed school security guards who are former police officers.

“There is nothing to stopping anybody from coming in and inflicting harm on any one of our kids at these schools right now,” he said.

Noting the current WIS guard is a former police officer, Hawley said it makes no sense for him to be in the school without a gun.

“We need cops in schools, end of story. Because the only thing that’s stopping a bad person looking to do harm with a weapon is one looking right back at him,” said Hawley. “You can do your slide shows with all the fancy alarm systems—I’m all for having the stuff, I’m for the cameras—but there is nothing stopping this from happening. That’s all there is to it.”

Adam Brown told the BOE he has about 30 years law enforcement and is retired from the state police. He said that while the district is doing a great job in security practices and working well with local law enforcement, “I think there are some huge gaps.”

Brown said the school entry procedures need to be followed at every building; drills and evacuation alarms need to provide more direction for students and teachers to follow; and the district needs to have better communication for parents. He also recommended remote checks of employees via integrated cameras to ensure they’re displaying ID badges during the day.

Saying he now worked security at a college, Brown noted the district can hire retired police officers as school security guards and “very inexpensively” certify them through to state to be armed.

“It would be a great asset,” said Brown. “I really recommend you look at [it]. It’s really cost effective and would make parents, and people in the community, I believe, feel a little bit better.”

Brown also suggested the BOE and district seek input from experts living in the community and talk with other districts to determine what has worked and what hasn’t, such as when it comes to replacing door locks with card key systems.

“There are a million different locks out there. Talk to schools that have already bought the bad ones,” said Brown. “There are lot of people in this community who would love to help you, for free, just to give you ideas or point you in the right direction.”

Parent Gregory Jerolman asked the BOE to go beyond “selectively” answering questions from the public and for more consistent leadership in addressing bullying to avert a potential student who, “at a given point, is fed up and feels they have nothing to lose and then does something incomprehensible.” He also said the BOE needs to provide a higher level of transparency.

“That’s something that you have very much in your span of control,” said Jerolman.

Acknowledging there are security measures and “hard skills” to be undertaken by the district and police, Jerolman said to the BOE, “in regard to soft skills, some things are in your control and I would highly recommend you do it.”

The BOE also heard from two BOE student representatives on March 14, Emily Borst and William Riggs.

Saying it was obviously hard to capture every single students’ feedback, Borst told the BOE “it is unfortunate, that as a whole, I do think the majority of students still do feel unsafe. But I can say I think I see this going in a positive direction. I do think the administration is making a lot more effort for communication. Obviously, the parents have expressed concerns that there wasn’t enough for some of the instances that occurred this year, but I do think that this is helping us learn some new ways to take approaches.”

Borst said ways she sees the district “taking a step in the right direction” include renewing the focus on mental health.

“I think that needs to be addressed, especially in the schools; especially at younger ages,” said Borst. “Because as a whole, it’s ignored; it’s feared.”

She also suggested the BOE try to hear from more students, saying of herself and Riggs, “We can try to capture what we can,” but as she’d witnessed that day during the BHS student-led participation in the 17 minute walkout for school safety, “there are so many passionate students at our school that have very firm beliefs on this, and they would love to come here and speak to you guys.”

Riggs agreed with Borst, saying the schools are heading in the direction of positive progress and he’s seen “growth” in the student body, while adding, “but I would agree, a lot of students still don’t feel safe at school.”

On parent asked Krause, as the head of the school board, what he felt about hearing parents and students concerns in recent weeks, and what he would do to monitor and support the protocols in the district.

“Of course I felt awful last [BOE meeting] when one of the students was telling us that he felt totally unsafe in our high school,” said Krause. “And so that’s why we’re addressing some of the concerns as best we can, and we’re going to improve. Because it’s definitely not perfect, that’s obvious, and we’re going to do the best we can to make sure all of our kids are safe, working with the Police Department and so forth. So am I happy about what I’m hearing? Of course I’m not, but I also do know the Police Department and the superintenden, and our administrators, our teachers, are not going to have kids going to school if they don’t feel it is a safe environment. Yes [there] are some things that need to be improved, with the locks, with communication [and the question] ‘Is it a drill, is it real?’ The communication has to improve, and that is what we will be working on. As a board, we’re going to start monitoring better how many drills are being done on a monthly basis, by school. We will monitor meetings the different [school safety] committees are going to have, to make sure it’s getting improved.”

Noting the 2018-’19 BOE budget already seeks to add two more school security guards, Krause continued, “We’ll talk as a board in the near future [on] some of the ideas mentioned [such as] do you have a security guard being armed or not being armed? We talked about that several years ago, when we hired [the] middle school [guard]. So those are things that have to be discussed, because there’s different ways of doing it. We’re going to definitely do a better job in monitoring it.”

The next meeting of the BOE Communications Committee is Wednesday, April 11, 6:30 p.m. in the lower media center at Branford High School, 185 East Main Street.