Security In The Schools

Nowhere has Newtown spent more time and money trying to create order out of chaos than in its schools. The Board of Education has created and adopted more than 200 policies governing nearly every conceivable activity and issue that might crop up in an educational setting, from dress codes and field trips to the Pledge of Allegiance and loitering. The curricula are constantly reviewed, monitored, and modified when necessary to ensure the best possible education for Newtown’s students. Budgets are created, tracked, and debated down to the penny. So when parents reluctantly relinquish control of their children as they head off to school, they trust that they are releasing them into the most controlled environment possible outside of their own homes.

It may surprise some of these trusting parents to learn that a national survey in 2005 showed that students ages 12 to 18 are more likely to become victims of theft at school than in any other place they go, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That same year, one in ten male high school students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon at school, and one quarter of all students in grades 9 to 12 reported that they had been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug on school property. Clearly, some things are still out of control in public schools.

Newtown prides itself on being a caring and attentive community, and we like to think that the threats to kids in our local schools don’t rise to those national averages. Yet, we have learned of allegations in recent weeks of crimes, including a felony, committed in a bullying incident at Newtown High School last February by a group of students in weekend detention supervised by an janitor, who happened to be absent at a critical time. The incident highlighted the need for a thorough review of security procedures in Newtown’s schools, and last week the Board of Education got just that.

Maureen Will, Newtown’s new emergency communications director, former Brookfield Police captain, and recognized expert on police personnel management and training, submitted a stinging critique of security procedures at Newtown High School in particular, and the school district’s other schools generally. The report amounts to a “To Do” list for whomever replaces the former director of security for the schools, Richard Novia, who served out the final months of his contract, which ended June 30, under a school board-imposed administrative leave. The list of issues that need immediate attention, according to the report, includes improved communications, clearer lines of authority, better training, and updated equipment and procedures.

The encouraging news is that the superintendent of schools and administrators at the high school know they have a problem and have expressed their willingness to bring about the changes that will make Newtown’s schools more secure. The Board of Education should support that commitment by expediting the hiring of a new director of security for the district. Urgent work awaits whomever that person may be.