Fear
of terror calls educators to new
vigilance
Codey makes school security a
high priority as officials ask who will cover the
expenses
Wednesday, May 04, 2005 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
With Columbine, Sept. 11 and the Russian
school massacre of last summer seared in their memories, New
Jersey educators need few reminders that the worst case can
conceivably become their case at any time.
It troubles administrators like
superintendent Kevin Brennan in Greenwich Township, who
admits sometimes losing sleep over what could happen to his
two-school district in Warren County, safeguards and
all.
Police officer Keith Holley wears a
bullet-proof vest to his job as school resource officer in
West Orange, not sure who exactly the villains are anymore,
gangs in the community or something more sinister from
outside.
"I wear it every day," he said, tapping
his chest, "because you never know."
They were among more than 200 school and
law enforcement officials who gathered at Rutgers University
yesterday for what was billed as the Governor's School
Security Summit, led by acting Gov. Richard
Codey.
Codey has made school security a
centerpiece of his brief term in office, invoking especially
the terrorist massacre of 300 adults and students in Beslan,
Russia, last August. He has pledged all 3,700 public and
private schools in the state would be inspected for their
vulnerabilities by law enforcement officials by next
fall.
"We have seen how terrorists operate," he
said yesterday. "Terrorists are constantly trying to stay
ahead of law enforcement. To stay safe, we have to be more
vigilant, even more inventive and creative than they
are."
Some school officials wondered who would
pay for security measures when and if they are needed in the
schools. Codey said he hoped federal money could be secured,
hopefully without putting additional burden on local
taxpayers.
"Safety audits" in the state's schools
hav seen a slow start. Just a handful have been evaluated so
far as state officials said they want to pilot the process
before going statewide. But they said training is finished
with more than 1,000 local officers and administrators
conducting reviews and the program should go full throttle
by mid-May.
One of the first audits took place at
South Toms River Elementary School this week, where a local
officer toured the school for more than 60 items on the
state's checklist, from secure doors to teacher training to
crisis planning. Each audit takes two to four hours,
depending on the school, officials said.
"We felt pretty good about it," said
William Cardone, assistant superintendent of the Toms River
Regional Schools district. "But I also have to admit it's
probably easier in an elementary school than it will be in
the larger middle or high schools."
Codey also announced yesterday that the
state would provide some help in developing a curriculum for
teachers to be trained in security procedures, be it as
undergraduates or once on the job.
Teachers know their evacuations and
lockdowns, one official said, but what if a sniper is at the
back of the school shooting into windows?
"These are the kinds of things teachers
don't know, but they really are crying out to know," said
Dennis Quinn, who is coordinating much of Codey's initiative
as assistant to state Attorney General Peter
Harvey.
Held in the New Brunswick campus' student
center, the daylong summit was sobering in its warnings and
scenarios of attacks by bombs, guns and even
computers.
Sidney Casperson, the state's director of
counterterrorism, went into detail about al Qaeda
terrorists' intent to take on any target available. He said
training tapes have been found that depict school settings,
and cited the information about two New Jersey schools found
on suspicious computers in Iraq last fall.
His biggest word of advice was vigilance
on the part of everyone in the school community.
"I don't want to upset you, but there are
a lot of people out there who want to hurt us," he said.
"The best way to protect ourselves is to use all the eyes
and ears we have."
With regard to the question of who would
pay for additional security measures, a school official of
the Metuchen diocese suggested a per-student security fund
be allotted by the state, similar to that for technology. "A
lot of these things could be taken care of, and this issue
wouldn't be just used for political purposes," said Frank
Heelan, the diocese's assistant superintendent.
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com, or 973-392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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