By Jason Emerson
Just days after a school board discussion on school district safety, the Cazenovia district experienced an alleged threat of violence and operated last Thursday on a modified lock out. Superintendent Matt Reilly said he felt the district’s response to the threat was handled well, and improvements will continue to be made to ensure the safety of district students.
While school security has become the issue of the moment around the country in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre on Feb. 14, Cazenovia has been steadily assessing and improving its district-wide security since 2015. These improvements have been made in the areas of prevention, protection and response, and many of them have occurred in the past year or two, as a result of both the district’s recent capital project as well as state money (through the Smart Schools Bond Act) that is specifically designated for district technology and security improvements.
“We are absolutely consistently looking at school security,” Reilly said at the Feb. 26 Board of Education meeting.
At the meeting, Reilly listed some of the security measures the district has implemented over the past few years:
Prevention
• Hired behavioral specialist who works directly with students and with teachers and trains teachers how to identify students in need and how best to work with them or refer them.
• Teacher in-service trainings directed at supporting students’ social/emotional health.
• Programs to raise teacher awareness about mental health issues, and work to engender a culture of “see something, say something.”
• Individual and Institutional Wellness task force created as part of district’s strategic planning process to help support students and manage student behavior.
• Creation of more student activities to capture students that might otherwise feel disenfranchised.
Protection
• Improved surveillance systems.
• New building access controls with accompanying ID badges for faculty, staff and visitors.
• Lockdown capability from several locations.
• New phone system capable of acting as a secondary PA system.
• Examining the unlock schedule at all three district buildings.
• Continue to maintain single point of entry for school buildings throughout the school day.
Response
• Continued safety drills observed by police and BOCES safety personnel, followed by assessment and adjustment.
• Continued faculty and staff training by law enforcement and security experts.
• Local and state law enforcement training on-site to increase familiarity with district buildings.
Reilly also said he is currently in discussions with the village of Cazenovia and the Cazenovia Village Police Department about the possibility of having an on-site school resource office in the district. One such officer would cost approximately $70,000, Reilly said.
Board members agreed the possibility was something the board needed to discuss. Member David Mehlbaum asked whether the district would want to hire one resource officer or three (one for each building). Member Jennifer Parmalee suggested it may be better to spend that $70,000 or more on prevention measures such as behavioral management and addressing the emotional and social needs of students, rather than on one school resource officer who may or may not be a useful addition to the district.
Reilly suggested the board may want to consider adding money into the upcoming school budget to hire a resource officer.
Board Member Lou Orbach suggested the board consider dipping into the district’s reserve funds to be used for any and all security measures that the district may feel necessary but may not be affordable without using reserve funds.
“If there was ever a reason to use our reserve funds, this is it,” Orbach said. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our kids.”
The school district’s budget process for the 2018-19 school year is currently ongoing, with the preliminary budget typically completed by early April and the annual budget hearing occurring in early Mary.
The Cazenovia District Safety Plan can be found online at the district’s website, cazenoviacsd.com/district-office/school-information/district-wide-safety-plan.
