Safe and Secure Schools
Task Force:
Preview of Findings and
Recommendations
Raymond R. Wiss,
Immediate Past President, NJSBA
Donald Webster, Jr.,
Vice President for Finance
Co-chairs
Presentations may be viewed at…
www.njsba.org/schoolsecurity
NJSBA Responds
• TCNJ Program
• Security Website
• Task Force
Task Force Charge
• Survey membership
• Consult with experts
• Review developments affecting
implementation and funding
• Identify best practices
Task Force Membership
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Raymond R. Wiss, Immediate Past President, co-chair
Donald Webster, Jr., VP for Finance, co-chair
John Bulina, President, ex officio
William Beck, Hackettstown BOE
Tanya Coke, Montclair BOE
Jay Dean, Butler BOE
Christopher Musto, Lyndhurst BOE
Brandon Pugh, Moorestown BOE
Ronald Russell, Riverside BOE
Task Force Membership (continued)
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Paul Derin, High Point Regional BOE
Paul Gorga, North Haledon BOE
Lisa Kay Hartmann, Bordentown Regional BOE
Ronnie Spring, Livingston BOE
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Staff:
Frank Belluscio, Deputy Executive Director
Mike Vrancik, Director of Governmental Relations
Steve McGettigan, Manager of Policy Services
Lou Schimenti, Policy Consultant
Linda Rottloff, Human Resources Assistant
Experts Consulted
• Anthony Bland, state coordinator, Office of School
Preparedness and Emergency Planning
• Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D., director of clinical training,
Rutgers University Department of Psychology; director,
Rutgers Social and Emotional Learning Laboratory;
director, Collaborative, Rutgers' Center for CommunityBased Research, Service, and Public Scholarship
• Anne Gregory, Ph.D., Rutgers University Graduate
School of Applied and Professional Psychology
• Jim Haslop, SSC Security, Huntingdon, PA
Experts Consulted
• William D. (Ted) Hopkins III, AIA, LEEDap,
principal, Fraytak Veisz Hopkins Duthie PC
• Brian J. Klimakowski, chief of police, Manchester
Township Police Department, and member, Governor’s
School Security Task Force
• Mark B. Miller, vice president, Pennsylvania School
Boards Association, and vice president for Educational
Technology, Nixle
• Gary Vermeire, coordinator of the Safe and
Supportive Schools Unit of the New Jersey Department
of Education
The Backdrop
video clip of NBC News broadcast following
Newtown
POLICY
and
PLANNING
Current Requirements
• Safety and Security Plans N.J.A.C.
6A:16-5.1
• Administrative Response
Procedures N.J.A.C. 6A:16-5.1
• Security Drills N.J.S.A. 18A:41-1 and
N.J.S.A. 18A:41-7
• Memorandum of Agreement between
Law Enforcement and Schools
N.J.A.C. 6A:16-6.1 et seq
Pre-Incident Planning
Stakeholder Committee
• Helps formulate security
plans/protocols
• CSA, principal, teachers,
support staff, students,
maintenance, security
consultants, construction
code officials, emergency
responders
Communications
GOALS:
• Inform staff, students, parents, community
• Encourage reporting of suspicious behavior
around school and bus stops
– Visitor access
– Student drop-off
– After-hours use
– Changes in procedures
Emergency Notification
Multiple Methods
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Automated systems
All-call systems
Reverse 911
Open-notification
– Law enforcement, first
responders, community
Cross-Platform Advised
• Voice msg., text msg., email,
social networks, website
School Shootings:
The Stark Reality
• In 81% of school shootings, at least one
other person knew of the plan
• In 59%, two or more knew ahead of time
• Over half of the attackers spent more
than 2 weeks planning
School Shootings:
A Preventive Measure
24/7 Anonymous ‘Tip Line’
• Receives phone, email and text
messages
• Relays info in “real time” to school
administration and police
• Prevents incidents through review,
investigation and action
• Requires student trust,
cooperation
Video: The Path to Violence
Video Clip: Path to Violence
The Path to Prevention
Healthy Organizational Structure
• Mental health services/counseling
• Control over access to school premises
• Positive school Climate
Mental Health Services
• Since 2008,
approximately
30 states
have reduced
mental health
spending
The Shooter
• VAST MAJORITY: Perpetrators
associated with school
• FBI: Common
Characteristics
– Low self-esteem
– Victim of abuse
– Severe depression,
suicidal
– Physical or behavioral
changes
Student’s school shooting plot foiled
CNN (2008)—A 17-year old male from
Belvidere was taken into custody after
school administrators heard about the
plan from worried students and
contacted local police.
…the school psychologist reported the
student had behavioral problems and
had recently undergone a sudden
change in behavior…
Healthy Organizational Structure
• Builds trust among students and staff
• Promotes a secure environment
• Advances academic achievement
• Enables school officials to identify
students at risk
Internal Threat Assessment Team:
Does Your District Have One?
• Administrator
• School Research Officer (SRO)
• Mental Health Professionals
• School Legal Representative
• Teachers
School Climate:
What the Experts Say
Dr. Maurice J. Elias:
Director, Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character
Development Lab
• Social, Emotional and Character
Development
• Social Emotional Learning
• Respectful School Climate (reduction of HIB)
School Climate:
What the Experts Say
Dr. Anne Gregory
Graduate School of Applied and Professional
Psychology, Rutgers
• School climate: As powerful a predictor of
academic success as demographics. Unlike
demographics, climate can be changed
• Authoritative Structure: consistency,
support, accountability
Physical Security:
Personnel
Architecture
Equipment
Do we want out schools to
look like this?
…or like this?
Principles of Security
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Identify threat
Assess the threat
Manage the threat
Deter, slow and detain
Homeland Security Standards
• Barrier to block vehicles
• Mailboxes, trash bins and package
pick-up/drop-off 33 feet from entrance
• Principal/Vice-Principal offices not
visible from public areas
• Utility rooms distant from main entrance
and parking areas
Homeland Security Standards
• 2 emergency control centers in new
buildings
• Exterior perimeter lighting
• Lockable and alarmed ground-level doors
and windows
• Locked and alarmed roof-level doors and
hatches and HVAC equipment
$ecuring Our $chools: The Cost
Ballistic Film: $14 to $16 per square foot
Surveillance Cameras: $2,500 per camera, or
$150,000 to $250,000 for system
Hardware/Locks: $350 per door
Card Readers: $750 per door
Entry Buzzers: $2,000 per door
Bullet-Proof Glass in Vestibule: Up to $100,000
The Path to Violence
Video Clip
Security/Law Enforcement Presence
• School Resource Officers (SRO)
• Retired police officers
• Private security (armed/unarmed)
• Class II officers
Financial Obstacles
Identified by board presidents and school
business administrators—
• 2% tax levy cap (most frequent)
• Limited state aid
• Lack of funding for SROs
Current Methods to Fund Security
Identified by board presidents and school
business administrators—
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Operating budget – 55.1%
Reallocation of funds – 16.8%
Capital reserve – 10.2%
Grants – 9.7%
Construction bond proceeds – 4.6%
Municipal support for SRO – 3.6%
Securing Our Schools: The Wish List
Survey question: 3 steps you would take to
improve security…if you had the funds
Classroom Door Locks
Bullet-Proofing Windows/Doors
6.1%
9.0%
Vestibule Alterations
15.1%
System Upgrades(access, alert)
16.1%
SRO/Security Personnel
26.6%
Surveillance Cameras
27.1%
Top 3 Low-Cost Security
Enhancements
Deter, Slow, Detain
• Classroom Door Hardware (purchased
over time, starting with entry)
• Interior doors/partitions to contain
visitors to entry area
• Ballistic Film
Recommended by William D. “Ted” Hopkins, AIA,
Fraytak Veisz Hopkins Duthie PC
Other Low-Cost, No-Cost
Enhancements
• Trim trees/shrubs
• Eliminate “hiding”
places
• Secure roof
hatches & HVAC
equipment
• Fence off exterior
blind spots
• Cut off outside
access to windows
and roofs
• Slow traffic with
stop signs,
pavement markings
and speed bumps
The Path to Violence
Video Clip
Kenneth Trump, National School Safety and Security Services
Next Steps for Task Force
• Identify Best Practices
– Available technology
– Community relations
– Policy
• Develop Recommendations
– Security personnel
– Working with law enforcement
– School climate
Next Steps for Task Force
• Issue Report to the NJSBA
Membership
• Contribute to Legislature’s
Security Task Force
– Don Webster
NJSBA’s representative