SCHOOLS SUPE ISSUES NEW SECURITY MEASURES IN WAKE OF TUSCAN BREACH

The recent Tuscan School security breach prompted many parents and students to call for tighter security, even a security guard at the front door.

Superintendent Brian Osborne issued this notice late Monday, which does not include a security guard being added, but does call for tighter restrictions including all visitations to be planned ahead of time, usually with a phone call. It also says guards may be added down the road, but must be discussed as part of the upcoming budget planning first:


To the Tuscan School Community,
As you are aware, on December 5th, 2013, an NBC reporter entered Tuscan School as part of a news report on security measures in public schools.  His ability to enter Tuscan School disturbed us all and made it clear that the protocols that were put into place for the safety of our students and staff were not being followed.  Upon further investigation, and from comments from community members, it was evident that this breach of protocol was not an isolated instance, but has happened before at Tuscan School, and at other schools in the District.
The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority.   Lax security is not acceptable. The following measures are being put into place immediately to tighten security measures and ensure that protocols in place are followed without exception.

1. Enhancing protocols and retraining.  Protocols for authorizing a visitor to enter a school building have been rewritten in detail.  The protocols now include written scripts for a variety of situations.  All relevant personnel in all schools will be retrained in the use of the protocols during the month of January, with repeated periodic training throughout the year.  The protocols will be reviewed at each of the regular monthly Emergency Management Meetings and updated as needed.  The training will include emphasis on a “no exceptions” approach, and the consequences for not following the established protocols.

2. Limiting visitation to school buildings to prescheduled appointments. Tighter restrictions are being added to the protocol scripts to further limit access to the buildings.  No visitors will be allowed into the buildings without prior notification.  Therefore, parent meetings, early pick-up of children, even dropping off of a forgotten lunch, should be called in and arranged ahead of time so that office staff knows to expect the visit.  Visitors should expect to experience a degree of screening and visitors without prior appointments should expect to be turned away.  In addition to the prior notice, the office staff is being instructed to verify information of the visitor against accessible databases, such as guardian information matched against student name and other information. We therefore ask the PTAs to use discretion regarding the means of distribution of information in school directories to limit access to the type of information that may be used for verification.  In addition, during times of peak activity like drop-off and pick-up or when parents are visiting the building for events and activities there will be adult supervision of students at each of the doors used for entry and exit of the building. 

3. Continuing to upgrade and enhance security equipment.  In response to the incident at Sandy Hook last year, the South Orange Maplewood District implemented a number of measures to increase security responses as well as reduce building access.  Various construction projects have been scheduled throughout the District including adding a second set of locked doors with buzzers and security cameras to several of the buildings to provide an additional checkpoint, to guard against inadvertent entrance, and to prevent an additional unauthorized person from gaining access when an authorized person is buzzed in.  This had been planned for Tuscan School and the project has now been given a higher priority in response to the recent occurrence.  Security cameras have been added and upgraded throughout the District and lighting upgrades have increased security in isolated areas.  Live monitoring of additional cameras has been implemented in the past few weeks. Exterior notifications have been added to be used in the case of a lockdown both to notify outdoor classes as well as to notify the community for quicker communication with law enforcement.  New security measures have been implemented in individual classrooms as well, enhancing both preventive and responsive mechanisms.

4. Continuing emergency drills and ongoing collaboration with law enforcement.  We will continue our monthly emergency drills and will continue to work with local law enforcement to improve emergency responses and communication.   These drills include drills for lockdowns, active shooters, lock outs, bomb scares, evacuations, and extreme storms.  Law enforcement officials and emergency planning experts from the two towns and the county will continue to advise us on our efforts and monitor our progress.

5. Consideration of additional measures is ongoing.  Several additional security measures suggested by the Tuscan PTA and other concerned parents include security guards, greeters, independent security audits, and more extensive capital projects to change the layout of the building.  All suggested security measures including the external security audit and those regarding specific security personnel will be addressed as part of the upcoming 2014-15 budget discussions.

Should anyone witness a suspected breach of security or suspicious behavior, please immediately notify the Tuscan office and please send an additional notification via email to schoolsafety@somsd.k12.nj.us. 
The feedback and suggestions that we have received from the Tuscan School community are very much appreciated and will be taken into consideration as we work to improve our school security.  We welcome your continued input as we work as a community to enhance the security of our school buildings.
Sincerely,

Brian Osborne