Newton School Superintendent David Fleishman sent this out late Friday afternoon…
January 4, 2013
Dear Newton School Community,
Since I last wrote to you two weeks ago about school security, we have continued to focus on issues of school safety and security and are now preparing to make an important change in our procedures. In making this change, we have consulted with the Mayor, Police Department, principals, and our district safety team. We have also studied the safety procedures in other school districts and examined a 2008 security assessment of our schools conducted by the Newton Police Department.
In recent years, all of our schools have instituted changes designed to improve school safety. For example, all pre-K-8 schools have instituted keyless entry systems. In addition, all pre-K-12 schools have installed shades and locks on classroom doors. At the high school level, we have placed security cameras in key locations. Our principals continue to ensure that all staff are instructed and trained to respond to any crisis by implementing lockdown drills, shelter-in- place procedures, and evacuations. Further information regarding safety and security in the Newton Public Schools, including information on our emergency procedures, can be found at: http://www3.newton.k12.ma.us/
emergency_response We must continue to improve our safety practices and procedures in a thoughtful manner. There are sensible security measures that we can implement while preserving the sense of community that is a hallmark of the Newton Public Schools. We plan to install a buzzer and camera system as quickly as possible in our pre-K-8 buildings that will enable the schools to be locked during the school day through dismissal. We will maintain our current practice of keeping the front door open during drop-off time so that parents can take their children into school at the start of the day. While parents and visitors may still be able to enter during the school day, they will have to be allowed in after using the buzzer and being identified by school staff. We will communicate to you when our current front-door policy will change, and you will receive information regarding procedures for after-school programs after this issue is further examined.
Both the Mayor and School Committee are supportive of this decision. It is also important to note that a majority of our peer districts now either have these types of systems or have plans to install them in the near future.
In the coming weeks, we will continue to assess our safety and security procedures in all of our buildings, including the high schools. Please note that we will be certain to communicate frequently as we proceed. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
Good
Overdue.
So Maybe I should add WHEN???
I actually really was starting to believe that maybe they had decided that our children’s safety was an urgent matter until I read the Tab Article. I actually thought that we might have locked doors by the end of the Month.
But then I read this
“Fleishman told the TAB there is no timetable yet for when the system will go online. He said the goal is to have it operational “as quickly and as effectively as possible,” but he wouldn’t commit to having it in place by the end of the school year.”
Read more: Newton schools to install locks, buzzers at K-8 schools – Newton, Massachusetts – Newton TAB http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/news/x1926906120/Newton-schools-to-install-locks-buzzers-at-elementary-middle-schools#ixzz2H8NWwflF
The hysteria surrounding this issue is ridiculous.
We have decades of experience showing us that there is NO reasonable threat, no problem with our unlocked schools, yet one horrific act and we NEED TO LOCK-DOWN NOW! Despite the fact that the same precautions that are being called for in Newton were in place in the one terrible circumstance that obliterates our sense of context. We have decades of data telling us that people are not wandering through our elementary schools looking to do harm. But we don’t care. One horrible example, one earthquake, one tsunami one atomic bomb (some of us remember the drills to hide under our desks) does not mean PANIC!
Okay, our society is comfortable with locking down everything. How does this affect our children? Who knows. No one cares. It’s panic time.
The Superintendent had to do this, too many people respond viscerally. Who needs the political battle it would take to disregard the hysteria? At this point it’s expected. A reflection of our society. But let them implement the “security” in as thoughtful a manner as possible for this meaningless and impotent knee jerk reaction to the horror of one poor community’s’ experience.
Lock ’em in, lock ’em down. Does it have to be today?
@Terry,
Yes it does have to be today. One event happening anywhere is one event too many. To think it will never happen here is putting your head in the sand. Sure, the odds are not in favor of it but do you want to risk even one life to these odds? As many people have pointed out, this is not just about some crazed gunman, it’s about the real threat of pedophiles, custodial kidnapping and other similar events that are far more likely happen. The schools should have been locked down long before this. In my mind, this is not so much a knee jerk reaction as it is a final wake up call the the City to protect our children and the people who work in these schools. How will you feel and what will you say on the horrific day something does happen here? It is far better to be safer than sorry.
Thanks Terry for the calm and sane reply in the midst of the hysteria. Our hearts are broken for the community with the locked school doors who lost their children to the act of deranged person with so much firepower. We must put our energies into fixing what is truly broken, our mental health system and the culture of violence, especially armed violence. If our school doors are all now locked during the day, so our kids are locked out at recess, it does not make them safer. It is more likely to have them wet their pants.
@Terry do you lock the doors of your home?
@TheWholeTruth Locking the doors will not (and did not) prevent a Newtown-type tragedy. What might? Armored doors and bulletproof glass? Armed guards? There are parts of the world (and parts of the country) where the situation warrants these steps. Let’s hope we’re not there yet. Or we could just abandon the schools and home school our kids so that there will be no easy targets. Where does the hysteria end? Locking the doors (or other measures) may be reasonable actions to prevent other crimes, but to do so in response to Newtown fears is simply foolish.
@Emily, most people in Newton probably do lock their doors, but I’m betting most do so in the daytime for fear of theft, not violent crimes.
Adam and Terry – several of us have enumerated our reasons for wanting doors locked that have nothing to do with Newtown. These days, most urban and suburban schools limit access and lock all doors not under direct observation.
@mgwa: that’s a different discussion, and a reasonable one. As you know, since 9/11, Newton had locked all doors except for the front one. Depending on the layout of the school, that may present a greater danger in some buildings than others.
The kids will not be “locked out” during recess. The elementary schools already lock all doors except the main entrance; keyless entry systems were installed a few years ago so doors could stay locked. This really won’t affect the kids so much as the parents who are used to walking in and out throughout the day.
Adam – the reasons for only having the front door open are the same as the reasons for switching to a more secure system. With unlocked doors that are unsupervised, non-custodial parents can gain access to kids – and parental kidnapping is a real threat, disgruntled ex-boyfriends (or girlfriends) of staff can get in, as can other people you don’t want such as thieves. These are all situations that are very realistic concerns and not as rare as one would hope.
While I agree with Terry Malloy that the hysteria around this issue is ridiculous, I disagree with him about the locking doors. Go to any professional office building, public or private, and you have a security guard at the front door. If not, you need to be buzzed in to offices. I know this isn’t as much for the safety of the people but for the property but the technology is there and it seems like a reasonable step to protect our schools with this protocol.
@Adam,
You are correct, locked doors would not and did not stop what happened in Newtown. However, the locked doors did slow down the entry of the gunman. The 30 seconds or so it took for him to blast through the door gave the people inside time to react and flee and lives were saved because of this. To think “we are not there yet” is keeping your head in the sand. Do you think Newtown thought it would ever happen there? Columbine? Nobody ever thinks it will happen in their city/town but the reality of society today is that it can happen anywhere.
Whatever security procedures are deemed appropriate for persons and property in Newton schools -which now will include locked doors- the point is that they should be thoughtfully, professionally implemented and not an hysterical reaction. Don’t panic if all the doors are not locked for the two weeks after the horror in Connecticut. Thankfully, abductions, pedophiles wandering in from outside and theft from outsiders has not been a problem. Regardless, as a society we tolerate and expect more security measures. It’s a sad fact in our world. At least we can do it thoughtfully.
I think what Terry is driving at is the need for a middle ground, that sweet spot between the urgency of concern and the clarity of thoughtful discussion. I agree that a rushed, frenzied drive to implement new security measures at the schools could lead to unforeseen problems – equipment not being installed correctly, for example – and I am actually relieved that the Superintendent took as long as he did to develop this new policy.
I do not think, as some do, that taking the time to carefully think through this new policy is a sign of weakness or irresponsibility. I do not subscribe to the notion that knee-jerk reaction is a good way to develop and implement policy. It is extremely important that our students are protected, and I reiterate that I am happy it has taken a few weeks to work out a good policy – one that will hopefully prevent the type of hysteria that could drive parents to actually pull their students out of the school system.
@Paul and Terry,
Your last comments are well taken. But I sincerely wish that the NPS had done something about this BEFORE the tragedy in Newtown. It is unconscionable to me that the doors to the schools have been unlocked all this time. Lock the doors now and then do your study on what is most effective and most sensible. At least while the study is going on, the students will be safe.
But there’s always the law of unintended consequences. Simply locking the doors without a plan in place for how it will actually work in practice at each individual building (for students, staff, parents, visitors, vendors, deliveries, after-school programs, etc.) could easily result in more security lapses.
Now is a good time to either
1) accelerate the migration of polling places out of the schools or else
2) set a policy of making Election Days as NPS professional development days when schools are not in session.
This could be driven partly by security concerns but maybe more importantly to reduce disruption of school days, particularly in schools with severely limited space.
Some say that it’s important for kids to see democracy in action, but my discussions with kids and teachers tell me that elections at schools when they are in session are mostly disruptive and minimally educational.
#2 is probably easier to implement …and would make it easier to keep those PTO bake sales in place!
Bruce – #2 has been in place for Years in the Waltham Public Schools – that along with locked doors.
Our Peer Community’s are Light years ahead of us while we are still thinking about it.
I agree completely that closing schools on election day when they’re used as polling places is a good idea. I grew up in NYC, with schools being closed on Election Day at least since I was a child, probably even longer. As to seeing democracy in action, it taught me that elections are important enough to close school for the day, plus my mother always took me with her when she went to vote (something she couldn’t have done had I been in school).
What is the downside of closing the doors, besides minor inconvenience for some.
How many election day shootings at schools has there been in the history of our country?
It doesn’t all have to relate to shootings. Most school election sites are in elementary schools. It leaves the school wide open for anyone to walk into the school. They dont need a gun to harm a child. There really would not be a downside to closing the school and instead of all the extra early release Thursdays – have that day as a professional day for the teachers.