Former Security Director Reviews Report

By Eliza Hallabeck

In response to the security report, former security director Richard Novia said there were always obstacles to maintaining the proper level of security at Newtown High School, and in recent years they became more prevalent.

Mr Novia held the position of security director for 15 years until this June when his contract lapsed. He was placed on administrative leave earlier in the year following a disciplinary action, which occurred on March 12.

The report was written by Maureen Will, a Newtown resident and a retired captain of the Brookfield Police Department, at the request of Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson. The report cited areas in security that can be improved at the high school.

In the report Ms Will wrote she could find no evidence of maintained paperwork in the security office. Mr Novia said all files that were related to the security office were stored at the central office for the school district, and he said Ms Will must not have been given access to these documents.

“The real problem isn’t all these things at all,” said Mr Novia regarding the security issue at the high school. “It is the roller coaster ride we have been on since Bill Manfredonia [the former NHS principal] left, and the second problem that always thwarted the security problem was the lack of funds.”

Additional staff members are still needed, according to Mr Novia, who said he asked for more security staff every year since he started working in 1993. The report Ms Will wrote said more staff is needed for security at NHS.

“I did comparative calls to other schools,” said Mr Novia. At Masuk High School in Monroe, there are six full-time security members, one director of security, two police officers, and a police dog, he said. In Newtown there are currently three full-time security members at the high school.

“There are always problems with money,” said Mr Novia.

In the years since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Mr Novia said he has had even more concern for the security of students. He said the growing amount of violence in the country should be reflected in the amount of safety at our schools.

“It took me ten years to convince them of a need for the surveillance system. I mean think about it,” Mr Novia said.

Mr Novia also said points in the report are false. Security officers are different than police officers, he said, but they work together and serve important purposes. He said the report was written from a police officer’s perspective. He respects police officers, he said, but said security personnel are needed for prevention purposes.

“In Newtown, the police department has a very short response time,” he said. “I have seen them get to the high school in one to two minutes. I’m very impressed with that.”

Mr Novia took this response time into account when he created the emergency response plans for each of the schools in the public school district in Newtown. He said this is one area where security at NHS and police officers work well together.

Another aspect of the report said the security at the high school has had no formal training for the job. While Mr Novia was there, he said, he trained the officers himself, and there was no written formula for it.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and I can tell you the best way to train people is to go out there with them,” said Mr Novia.