Saugerties Board of Education to hold school safety meeting March 6 »

The Board of Education has scheduled a March 6 meeting to hear community concerns about safety in schools.

The session was scheduled after six people voiced concerns at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday about the current level of security in district buildings.

“It’s been two weeks since another mass shooting,” parent Kevin Keaveny said. “I spoke with my daughter . ... I asked if anyone had addressed her or given any education on what to do if someone broke into her school and started shooting the place up. Nothing.”

Keaveny later clarified that his daughter attends a school in a different district.

Parent Elizabeth Reece was among the people who wanted to have a meeting conducted without it becoming a debate over the right to own firearms.

“We don’t want to necessarily talk about gun control at this point,” she said. “We want to talk about immediate things that can be done to improve security now.”

The concerns were voiced in the wake of Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra suggesting last week that some teachers could be trained and armed. That recommendation was not taken well by grandparent Tom Schlegel, who said it left a poor impression on young students who now are concerned about what their teachers might do.

“I picked up my granddaughter off the bus and she said she was nervous,” he said. “I asked why . ... She said she heard her teacher’s going to carry a gun and kill bad people.”

Board members agreed to set a special meeting after acknowledging there are concerns in the community.

“I don’t think this is something that we can fix overnight,” Trustee Damion Ferraro said. “I think there are some changes that we can immediately put in once we can talk to the administration ... This is not falling on deaf ears.”

Trustee Krista Barringer said the March 6 meeting will be a “listening session” with the intent of determining what actions can be taken.

“This is the time for us to really hear from our community about what their concerns are and get those captured,” she said. “This is an excellent time since we’re moving into budget discussions.”