Editorial: Keep asking how safe are our schools?

The scramble for answers in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy has sparked much discussion on security inside schools. It has school districts re-evaluating current security measures. And, in many cases, it has school administrators reaching out to law enforcement, parents, community leaders and other districts to take a hard, honest look at how effective their security measures are and what could be improved.

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recordonline.com

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Posted Jan. 20, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Posted Jan. 20, 2013 at 2:00 AM

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The scramble for answers in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy has sparked much discussion on security inside schools. It has school districts re-evaluating current security measures. And, in many cases, it has school administrators reaching out to law enforcement, parents, community leaders and other districts to take a hard, honest look at how effective their security measures are and what could be improved.

In that spirit, we reached out to every school district in our three-county area to provide basic information about school security. Do you have a security guard? Do you have school resource officers? Do you have a buzzer system to let visitors in? Do you have a single point of entry?

In most cases, these questions can be answered simply by visiting the school. In some districts, basic security facts are disclosed by schools on official websites. But in far too many cases, these basics are not publicly disclosed. The answers we hoped to receive were intended to engage parents and others in an open discussion of a simple question: What more can be done to keep our children safe?

If you are able to view a comparative chart of what measures are in place, you are better able to push for improvements. If you saw, for example, that more schools were opting for one point of entry, but your child's school did not have that, perhaps you would voice that concern directly.

But it wasn't that simple.

We sent out 35 surveys. Less than half of the school districts responded, and many only partially. Some of the reluctance could be tied to Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips, who, after getting word of the survey, strongly urged districts not to respond. His reasoning: "You don't want to give people who might want to do something bad a blueprint of what schools have what."

A blueprint? Hardly.

Every parent in the region has a right to know what basic, clearly visible security measures are in place. And if you learn in the process that some simple steps are not being done — like a single point of entry, like visitors showing IDs, like having a drill for lockdowns — doesn't that empower you to seek explanations and, ultimately, solutions?

Not every parent can attend school board meetings to learn or voice their opinions about school security. And reviewing official district websites for that information is an uneven process at best. Some school districts, like Middletown, offer detailed security information. But most do not.

As such, looking at what the common security practices are across the region can provide context and starting points for meaningful discussion. Having that basic information also can ensure all of our schools are at least in compliance with state law, which, by the way, covers most of the questions we asked in our survey.

Of course, sensitive information should not be shared. But so much of good security is, or should be, out in the open. And if it's not, parents and taxpayers should know why.