Marlboro board reviews school safety procedures
BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Safety measures that have been taken in the Marlboro K-8 School District were a topic of discussion at a recent meeting of the Board of Education.

Several members of the Safe Schools Task Force Committee presented a report to the board detailing safety measures the schools have already taken and security precautions being looked into for the future.

Robertsville Elementary School Principal Stephen Shifrinson reported on the safety measures in the elementary schools.

According to Shifrinson, every outside building door is locked and checked on a regular basis. He told the board members that visitors to the schools must sign in at the security desk and then report directly to the office.

Shifrinson said there are two-way radios in most of the buildings.

In the event of a school evacuation, teachers take a second set of emergency contact cards with them, he said. A key to every classroom is stored in a draw in the teacher's desk in case the teacher has to lock the classroom door from the inside during a lockdown situation, Shifrinson added.

Board President Terry Spilken questioned how aware substitute teachers will be during an emergency.

Shifrinson said all substitutes are left with a folder describing the protocol, the spare key to the classroom, a radio and a second set of emergency contact cards for the students.

Board member Joe Waldman suggested that all substitutes check to ensure that every item is in the desk and the folder when they arrive at the school. He added that the substitutes should check to make sure the spare key works and that they are able to lock the door quickly and properly. Waldman said after they are done checking these items they should report back to the office that the procedure has been completed.

Marlboro Middle School Principal Pat Nieliwocki discussed several of the same safety precautions which are taken at Marlboro's two middle schools. She noted that the school administrations have stepped up security over the past few months.

Similar to the situation at the elementary schools, Nieliwocki said the middle school buildings have a security desk for visitors to sign in and a procedure in place to ensure that visitors are not walking through a building unsupervised. She said all staff members have a swipe badge to enter the building through side doors which are always locked.

Nieliwocki said the administrations at both middle schools are trying to consolidate the parking lots so the yellow parking passes that all staff members must have displayed on their cars are easily visible.

Terry Dondrea, the transportation coordinator for the K-8 district, reported on the daily bus protocol and procedure during an emergency.

The bus drivers have incorporated a daily bus safety check which includes a visual check for unusual objects in and around the bus, Dondrea said. The transportation department is working with the police department on how to proceed during an evacuation and on protocol if an emergency occurs during bus arrival or departure.

Dondrea said all bus drivers will have a list of all students, their bus routes, home addresses and emergency contact information. She said her department will also be looking into increased safety measures during the hiring of bus attendants and bus drivers.

Security measures for the district's before-school and after-school programs were also discussed. KLC Partnerships Program Administrator Thea Pace said that only parents and authorized individuals are allowed in the school for pick-up and drop-off of children.

As for the hiring of individuals involved in the program, Pace said the firm requires three professional references, fingerprinting and a criminal background check for people 18 years of age and older.

Marlboro police Lt. Bart Lombardo, who has had a role in helping the administrators secure the buildings, had some additional comments for the board.

Lombardo said that at the beginning of the school year he approached district administrators about increasing the number of lockdown drills, which he said has been implemented. All schools in the K-8 district conduct lockdown and evacuation drills once a month.

The lieutenant said the goal of increasing the number of these drills is to instill confidence among teachers that they would be able to follow the procedure in the event of a real emergency. Lombardo compared it to the confidence teachers have in knowing what to do in the event of a fire because of the regular practicing of fire drills.

Lombardo has encouraged staff members to "throw a monkey wrench" into the situation when practicing for emergency situations in order to train better. For example, the lieutenant said, if the school is being evacuated, one of the hallways needed to exit the building might be where the situation is occurring. Therefore, he said, the teacher would need to know an alternate and safe route out of the school.

Lombardo said the school district needs to raise awareness of terrorist situations because the police need the eyes and ears of all the people in the schools to keep them informed about any suspicious behavior.

Educating users on how to communicate through portable radios is another aspect of safety procedures that Lombardo said needs to be addressed in the school district. Communication is the first thing to break down in an emergency and people need to be trained on how to use the radios, he added.

Lombardo also recommended holding an in-school lockdown training session for teachers and administrators in order for the staff to get a feel for a real emergency.