School Safety Improvements Slated for This Summer

New equipment will be installed in all Manchester Township Schools this summer designed to improve safety and slow down or thwart potential intruders meaning to do harm.

At the June 19 township Board of Education meeting, Business Administrator Craig A. Lorentzen outlined the $92,000 plan to install card access systems and card readers, high-definition cameras and recording devices, and security window film in all school buildings. In addition, burglar alarms will be installed in any school that does not already have one.

"These measures will give more time in the building to get where we need to go and give police more time to respond," said Lorentzen.

Following the December Newtown, Conn., school shooting, school officials asked township Police Chief Brian Klimakowski to inspect the school facilities to see where safety improvements could be made. Following those visits, Klimakowski presented the district with a list to increase safety, including the work being conducted over the summer.

"We have looked at things differently," said school superintendent David Trethaway. "It's a continuous process. We have to constantly look and see what we can do better."

During the Board of Education meeting, Klimakowski gave a presentation about school safety, outlining the modern history of school shootings, dating back to the University of Texas Clock Tower shootings in 1966 up to the most recent at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

Klimakowski said Manchester Township's first school safety manual dates back to before the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. Since then, the manual has been revised several times.

"After Connecticut, there was a great deal of renewed concern," said Klimakowski. "But Manchester is ahead of the curve. Overall, we have a tremendous amount of measures in place."

Lorentzen said the card readers and card access system will better control access into and within school buildings. The high definition cameras with large viewing areas will replace older cameras that gave only limited views of those entering the buildings. And he said the security film on glass windows and doors will make it difficult for anyone to break the glass, buying school authorities and law enforcement at least 15 extra minutes if someone is trying to get in.

Klimakowski said since 2010, the district implemented lock-down drills. But he said, in the case of Sandy Hook, there wasn't time to implement a lock-down since the perpetrator had broken through the glass doors.

"The number one priority is to make sure kids are safe," said Klimakowski. "We need to slow the bad guy down. We need layers so we can implement a lock-down."

Klimakowski represents all state chiefs of police on Governor Christie's K-12 School Security Task Force, which released a report on gun protection, addiction, mental health and families and education safety this past April. Both he and Trethaway emphasized the need for better communication between students, faculty and mental health professionals to identify potential offenders before incidents occur.  

Klimakowski offered several other recommendations—perhaps having less glass in schools and instituting an anonymous student text tip line. He also suggested parents allow their children to ride the bus to and from school to prevent the confusion of drop-offs and pick-ups at the beginning and end of the school day. He said they also have applied for a grant to pay for a school resource officer for the middle school in addition to the one already in the high school.

"Hopefully, we have good response plans in place so we can neutralize someone if something happens," said Klimakowski. "We can't bury our heads and say it's never going to happen here—the best we can do is plan."

This story was written by Lynne Richmond.