Newton Public Schools Superintendent David Fleishman sent this letter to parents this afternoon.
Dear Newton Community,
It is hard to believe that it has been a week since the tragedy in Newtown. It has been a very tough time for all of us, staff, students and families.
On Monday, I shared with you that we would act thoughtfully and swiftly in reviewing our safety and security plans. Over the course of the week, I have spent a significant amount of time reviewing safety and security with the Mayor, Interim Police Chief and all of our building principals. Our District Safety Team also met earlier this week to discuss areas that warrant our attention.
After many hours of discussion, we have a list of items that we will be considering over the next couple of weeks.
• An examination of all of our safety procedures (evacuation, fire and lockdown drills, perimeter lighting, etc.)
• An assessment of our identification and sign-in policies
• A serious look at implementing a buzzer and camera system at each of our Pre-K-8 schools
• A review of our current practice of permitting parents to enter our Pre-K-5 schools during drop-off and pick-up
I expect that we will review other items as well, but I wanted to give you a sense of the topics that came to the forefront during our discussions. Please understand that our review of these practices will be thorough and vigilant and should give you a sense of how seriously we take school safety and security.
I also want to inform you that I have received a lot of feedback from parents on this issue and the feelings vary on where we should go from here. A broad spectrum of suggestions has been shared ranging from significant security changes to minor tweaks. I appreciate hearing the wide array of opinions on a matter that is so important.
Given the critical nature of this issue, it is hard to imagine that we will not make some shifts in our current practices. In order to make you as familiar as possible with our existing procedures, we will be providing information on our website immediately after vacation about how we conduct evacuation, lockdown, and fire drills, as well as other safety practices.
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we will also continue to work in close partnership with the Mayor and the Newton Police Department as we strive to make everyone in the Newton community feel as safe and secure as possible when they send their children to our schools. I promise to keep you well informed as we move forward.
Best wishes for a peaceful 2013.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
“Please understand that our review of these practices will be thorough and vigilant and should give you a sense of how seriously we take school safety and security”
If you took safety and security seriously, you would lock the doors now. Anything less than that is irresponsible and places every student in potential danger.
Totally agree with TheWhole Truth. The Superintendent should have locked the doors on Monday. A week later and he is still just “seriously” considering it?
He is placing our children”s safety at risk.
On Monday Weston and Wellesley shut the doors – they did not need a week of meetings. Brookline Doors are locked ( at least the Superintendent doesn’t have to worry about his own children’s safety).
I dont know what is more pathetic – his response or our Mayor not stepping in and making this happen. Shouldn’t the city be worried about their liability if something were to happen since the Superintendent has publicized in the Tab and Boston Globe that our doors are still open? Principals in some of our Elementary schools have taken action already by locking the doors. Obviously realizing that they were not going to get any support on this critical safety issue from the Central Administration.
Can anyone on this Blog tell me one community near Newton that still keeps their school doors open?
To me this is the important part: “Given the critical nature of this issue, it is hard to imagine that we will not make some shifts in our current practices.”
I read that as he has heard the concern from the community over his previous response, and he is going to take appropriate measures. I am completely speculating here, but I am guessing that will include a locked door policy while school is in session, which I am guessing will require buzzers, intercoms and in some locations cameras.
It would be terrific if that could happen over the holiday break.
Locking the doors in the days following Newtown is not a rational response, it’s an emotional one. A careful and comprehensive review of security policies seems like the right thing to do, balancing security measures against the emotional needs of our community and our students.
Emily – I hope you are right – but that is not what I read in his letter – it was that he was still considering it.
That is probably why Pierce and Lincoln Eliot already shut the door and Franklin has put in a door monitor. Those Principal needed to make sure their schools were secure while the Mayor and Superintendent still think about it.
And I am still waiting to hear back from anyone that can tell me ONE community in our area that Still has the school doors still open? I have posed that question to 2 School Committee Members also – and have not heard back from them either. Maybe they cant find one??
I guess I see it as a safety issue not an emotional one. It has become emotional because we are dealing with “leaders'” who dont get it. By now 99% of all schools doors are Locked – What is Newton waiting for ?
Why shouldn’t the doors be locked? Don’t you lock the doors to your house to prevent unwanted people from entering. Don’t commercial companies of certain types lock all doors except where a receptionist and/or a guard can look you over first? A building with vulnerable students, especially young elementary school kids, should not allow unrestricted access to anyone who comes to the door or doors. It’s not just to guard agains situations like Newtown. There are many possible problems that can be averted if people need to pass a sort of screening. People who regularly come and need quick access, such as for delivery, or of course the teachers and staff themselves, could have a pass-card that allows them access. Many places use these.
There’s nothing wrong with “reviewing our safety and security plans,” as the Superintendent has suggested. Meanwhile, he needs to get his head out of his ass and lock the damn doors. It’s absolutely pathetic that Mayor Warren did not order school doors locked the day after the Newtown incident. What are these two guys thinking?
Mike Striar – Please add the School Committee to that list that need to get their head out of the Sand ( I think that is what you meant to say) and lock the school Doors. Not sure what they are thinking – but I do know that Fleischman doesnt have to worry about the security of his kids in Brookline because those doors are Locked.
Curse at people all you like, there’s no logic to locking the doors of our schools the day after the Newtown incident, unless it is to cater to the anxieties of parents. Locked doors did not prevent the tragedy at Newtown. Other measures, discussed elsewhere on this blog, might have been effective against a mentally ill gunman, and we, as a community, will have different opinions on which actions we wish to take or how much we wish to turn our schools into fortresses.
Adam– I’ve advocated locking school doors for years. It’s not just in response to the Newtown tragedy. Anyone [ANYONE!!!] can walk into a school building unnoticed. Does that seem safe to you?
Adam – can you tell me one community that is near Newton that STILL has their school doors open? The School Committee has not gotten back to me with one – I doubt you will either.
Please Mayor Warren – LOCK THE DOORS.
There are a lot of reasons to lock the school doors, and the Newtown tragedy isn’t top of the list (in terms of likelihood of occurrence). For just one example, parental kidnappings when there’s disputed custody (much more frequent than school shootings).
We’re supposed to lock our houses and cars. Businesses lock unwatched doors.
Why not lock our schools?
MGWA is right. What about the families in custody disputes, with restraining orders, the child in the custody of the Dept. of Children and Families? What about the non-custodial parent only allowed supervised contact with a child? What about the disgruntled boyfriend of a teacher? These are far more likely occurences.
I agree with mgwa and Margaret – but what is it going to take for Newton school doors to get locked?
The Mayor is not listening nor leading, the SC is ignoring and deferring this to the Superintendent and the Superintendent may be paid alot of money but he is not skilled enough to know what to do because if he was he woudl have dealt with this 2 week ago – like the Wellesley and Weston Superintendents did . But as long as he doesnt have to worry about the safety of his children as the doors are locked in ALL the Brookline schools.
He sends out an email on Friday at 3pm when a vacation week was starting. I guess his PR people must of told him that would be the best way to handle it – that way by the time school restarted on January 2nd his letter would be a distant memory and if you had any questions or wanted to contact him when the email arrived – well too bad – the school dept was closed for the break. And dont bother emailing him – he will never get back to you.
You would think that the Mayor would realize that it is time to step in and do the right thing and take control of this situation.
Can anyone tell me 1 community near Newton that still has their public school doors open?
I am still waiting for the SC to get back to me on that one. My guess is they can’t find one.
I’m posting this on January 2nd. Can anyone tell me if doors were locked today at Newton’s elementary and middle schools? I’m hoping that Superintendent Fleishman and Mayor Warren reflected on their responsibility over the vacation break, and instructed that school doors be locked.
It is January 3rd and the doors are still open.
Mike S – how long have you lived in Newton – dont you know they are still thinking about it – it is going to take them at least a year of meetings to decide what they might want to do and then they will have to figure out how to get the money to do it. And then they will have more meetings before they can figure out what took only 2 days for Weston, Wellesley and Brookline to do.
Maybe on January 3rd, 2014 we might have some of the schools with closed doors.
Joanne– I’m disgusted that the Superintendent and [especially] the Mayor are so irresponsible with the safety of our children. I would love to hear their explanation for this blatant dereliction of duty. This failure to protect our schoolchildren has changed my opinion of Mayor Warren. Maybe if he had children in elementary school he would see this issue through the eyes of parents. Unless this policy is changed [and changed very quickly], I’m going to do everything I possibly can to impede his prospects of reelection.
Joanne– Just following up. I’ve personally reached out to Mayor Warren, asking why school doors have remained unlocked. Assuming he responds with an answer, I will update you here.
At 4:00pm today I received an email from Superintendent Fleishman, which I assume went to all parents of NPS students. The email details security changes that include locked school doors. I appreciate the Mayor’s involvement in these security decisions. Most of all, I commend those parents who spoke up to insure the safety of their children. It appears to me, your voices were heard loud and clear.
I got the email too. Assuming it went out to all school parents.
He did not list a date as to when the doors are going to locked and the cameras/buzzers will be installed – so will it be this week or next year?
Joanne– I just posted a reply to you on the Tab Blog. The Superintendent and Mayor are committed to making these security changes. In a lot of cases physical changes will require hardware and electrical installation. Theses things must be done properly, or they will not be effective. I have every confidence that Superintendent Fleishman and Mayor Warren will get this done as quickly as possible. I think we need to acknowledge their responsiveness, and cut them a little slack. This is a major policy change, and you deserve a lot of credit for your role in bringing it about.