Along with a representative team of district stakeholders, I recently attended an important safety program sponsored by the New Jersey School Boards Association. With more than 600 attendees, we heard a variety of viewpoints concerning school security and the importance of making reasoned and careful decisions regarding student safety. The consensus of the keynote speakers and panelists was that school districts should gather data, meet with stakeholders, and prepare a well-structured and thoughtful plan and avoid a band-aid approach to a multi-dimensional, societal problem.
We are in the process of talking with parents at Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) meetings at the schools, and with the police departments of both townships to share information, gather feedback and concerns, and make recommendations for change. WW-P continues to prepare students and staff with drills, including lock-down drills, bomb threat drills, and evacuation drills. We have been informed that New Jersey Department of Education officials will be conducting unannounced security drills at schools throughout the state.
Also, as we begin to prepare the 2013-’14 budget, we are considering what financial resources we need to dedicate to school safety; this information will be part of the 2013-’14 budget presentations at Board of Education meetings.
Victoria Kniewel
Superintendent of Schools
