Schools revisit safety protocols
SARATOGA COUNTY — The recent school shootings in Newtown, Conn., have prompted local districts to examine their security protocols, stepping it up and making changes where necessary.
In the past, local elementary schools often let visitors simply buzz in and take a “Visitor” sticker. Now districts like Schuylerville central schools have strengthened the check-in process.
“We did change procedures Monday,” said Kim Smithgall, communications coordinator for the district. “We used to let visitors sign in; now we ask them to leave their driver’s license. That way, we can check that people are who they say they are.”
In the Ballston Spa Central School District, vigilance may be up, but procedures are the same.
“We haven’t had to change protocols in Ballston Spa,” said Stuart Williams, the district’s coordinator of community relations. “We have a very strong system in place now. We’ve always had locked doors, a buzzer system and greeters in the school lobbies.”
Ballston Spa also uses a scanner system through which visitors’ driver’s licenses are run. With a subscription to the Department of Motor Vehicles databases, staff members can check for any notation of criminal
activity connected with a visitor.
In the Saratoga Springs City School District on Wednesday, a gingerbreadhouse- making event at Dorothy Nolan Elementary School resulted in a long line of parents and siblings waiting to walk into the school. The visitors had to show identification and receive name tags before they were permitted to enter the school.
At Maple Avenue Middle School, a recent pilot program has adjusted the way in which visitors enter the building. The school changed its entrance to one where staff can easily monitor whoever comes and goes. Doors remain locked until visitors are questioned about their purpose. Driver’s licenses are scanned to produce a nametag sticker visitors must wear until they leave the building. Visitors turn in the nametags to staff.
“We have stepped up our vigilance in terms of monitoring the people coming into each building,” said Michael Piccirillo, superintendent of the Saratoga Springs school district.
The scanning equipment at Maple Avenue Middle School is expensive, he said, and for now the district isn’t subscribing to the DMV database. The other Saratoga schools all have locked doors through which visitors must be buzzed in.
In the high school lobby, a security person is stationed by a security television. Should a person believed to be a threat enter one of the schools, the principal would initiate a lockdown, Piccirillo said. All doors, inside and out, would be locked and law enforcement would be called.
New York State Police can help schools develop their security plans, although the final responsibility for approval rests with each district, according to trooper Mark Cepiel, public information officer.
“We do walk-throughs — audits; we make recommendations,” he said. “We give assistance, but we don’t have sign-off authority on any plan.”
Schuylerville recently had a state trooper do a security audit for its schools. Smithgall said the trooper was happy with how things were running there.
In addition to strengthening its relationship with local law enforcement, Ballston Spa also has plans to confer with an outside consultant on security. That goal dates back to August.
Saratoga Springs also is looking at its security.
“We’ve always taken security very seriously,” said David L’Hommedieu, assistant superintendent of information technology and operational innovation at Saratoga Springs schools. “Monday, all our school principals had a meeting on security issues. We are reviewing the processes and procedures and raising awareness back up.”