In the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting on Feb. 14, the issue of school security has dominated the airwaves; last week’s alleged threat against the Cazenovia school district has brought the issue of school violence and school security home to us in a personal way. Now is, in a financial sense, the most propitious time for us to have this discussion because both the school district and the village are in the midst of creating their 2018-19 budgets. If you want these entities to spend more on the security of our schools and our children, now is the time to make it known.
At the Feb. 26 Board of Education meeting, concerned parents asked what the district was doing to keep our kids safe, and the superintendent outlined some of the recent security upgrades to the district, as well as ideas for future enhancements. Superintendent Matt Reilly broached the topic of possibly having Cazenovia Police officers as school resource officers in Cazenovia. One parent asked Reilly if that was necessary — could the district not just have the village add an extra officer on shift to patrol the schools each day, or have the officer on duty each day give extra attention to the schools?
The Cazenovia Police department is funded by the village (as decided by the village board). After covering the village, police, and the village budget for six years, we can tell you that there is no staffing or money available for the village police to have any extra presence on any sort of regular basis. Police Chief Michael Hayes has been requesting from the village board since 2011 to have fourth full-time officer on staff, and every year has been declined citing lack of village revenue.
Hayes is the only working police chief in Madison County, which means that he covers patrol duties and chief duties simultaneously every day. Each job requires eight hours a day, yet he does both. While the chief patrols the village as much as he can, he must also be in the office to do the required administrative duties.
If we want more police presence in Cazenovia to handle school security, or the response to a mass casualty incident, then the village budget and/or the school budget needs to reflect that. Imagine if Chief Hayes were in a meeting one day and could not be reached, and a major incident occurred in the village? Who will respond and what will be the response time when he is the only officer on duty? Sure, the county sheriff and state police will respond, but where will their officers come from and how long will it take to get here?
Ensuring safety and security costs money. If we, as village and school district residents want more security for our children, then we must be willing to pay for it. If we are willing to pay for it, we need to let our school board and village board know to increase security and police lines in this year’s budgets to make it happen.
Meeting dates for both the school board and the village board can be found on their respective websites and in the Cazenovia Republican community calendar.
