In the wake of a school year marked by multiple threats against its schools and its students, the WW-P school district is implementing policies to increase safety in its schools.##M:[more]##
“Events in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District and those in the nation remind us of the importance of working together and keeping an open line of communication between home and school,” wrote superintendent of schools Robert Loretan in a letter to all parents.
The letter outlines the district’s action plan to improve its safety policies and procedures. The plan includes: I.D. badges for all staff members, safety and security training programs for maintenance and custodial staff, more stringent visitor sign-in procedures, reminders for staff members to question a person not wearing a visitor’s badge, reconfiguring the entrances of buildings to better guide visitors to main offices, and conversations with students regarding their own social responsibility to report abnormal activities.
“The Board of Education is committed to allowing the local organizations, such as recreation leagues and civic-minded groups, access to our buildings in the evenings,” said Loretan. “However, we are exploring options to control evening access to school buildings.”
The plan addresses access to the buildings with the installation of “buzz-in” systems in all of its school buildings. The systems would allow access only through the main entrance of each building. Village School and Millstone River already have the systems installed. The district’s other schools will have them installed pending a review by the state Board of Education.
Tom Smith, assistant superintendent of pupil services and planning, says the initiatives in the plan come at very little cost to the district. “We already have the hardware for the buzz-in systems, and we’ll be using district electricians to do the installation,” Says Smith.
The systems are controlled by a key fob given to all staff members that unlock entrances. The state has asked to review the systems since the security measure affects egress as well as entrance.
The other aspect of the plans that will cost more is the reconfiguration of entrances to lead visitors directly to the front office. “This is going to require some architectural plans. That is more of a long term part of the plan,” said Smith.
The ongoing part of the plan includes educating of people that are in the school every day, such as teachers, students, and maintenance workers. The Plainsboro Police Department has been instrumental in educating district employees on what to look for.
“The custodial staff and grounds crew are our first line of defense. They are out mowing lawns or in the buildings late at night,” said Smith. This is helping them understand what to look for.”
