The Cost of School Security

The following paper was written and presented by Lauren LoPorto in the Montclair State University School Finance Class that I taught this past semester.  This paper is one of many that I have chosen to highlight on this blog as it is contemporary and directly related to the issues in financing public education.

The Cost of School Security

Montclair State University

Lauren LoPorto - ELAD 622 

Professor Pepe 

Review of Material Covered

Allen, J. (2012, December 21). Part one: A columbine survivor’s perspective on sandy hook. Examiner.com. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/a-columbine-survivor-s-perspective-on-sandy-hook

 

Karissa Marcum, a Columbine survivor, now 28, describes her tale of the horrific day she and her sister experienced as high school students. Marcum shares her sadness for the senseless murders committed at Sandy Hook and discusses her opinion on gun control.

Carson, D. (Writer) (2012, October 11). To survive a shooting, students learn to fight back. NPR. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2012/10/11/162712905/to-survive-a-shooting-students-learn-to-fight-back

The controversial strategy known as A.L.I.C.E. Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evaluate is defined and explained in this podcast. The program creator believes training children as young as 5-years-old to, “fight back” against an active shooter is an effective strategy. This is a controversial approach but many believe we need to change our thinking about how potential victims should respond, and that a shift toward more active resistance in crime situations is happening. He supports this idea by explaining before September 11, passengers were advised to comply with hijackers, and that self-defense instructors used to tell women to go limp to survive a rape.  

Candoli, C., Guthrie, J.W., Hack, W.G., Hart, C.C., & Ray, J,R. (2008). Modern School Business Administration: A Planning Approach. Boston, MA: Pearson  

The text describes the need for school security and the level of crime increase due to a number of factors including drugs, gangs, and vandalism. The most successful school security personnel have a close working relationship with building administrators and students they serve.  

Kennedy, M. (2012). Today’s school security. American School & University, 16-22. 

This journal article summarized the lessons learned from the school shooting massacres including Columbine and Virginia Tech. The measures taken by schools and universities today have been intensified to ensure public safety. Finally, prevention is discussed by identifying problems and why the role of violence prevention programs at schools is beneficial. 

Terkel, A. (2012, December 21). Columbine high school had armed guard during massacre in 1999. Huffinton Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/columbine-armed-guards_n_2347096.html 

The gun control debate ensues and many politicians are using school violence to promote their stance both for and against gun control. Those invested in pro-gun laws are pushing for armed guards at every school to make them “safer.”  

Toppo, G. (2009, April 19). 10 years later, the real story behind columbine. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm 

This article summarizes the events that occurred on April 20, 1999 when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris terrorized and murdered their classmates before turning the guns on themselves. Not only did the boys have guns, but they planted bombs that thankfully failed to explode. Also discussed are some of the security steps put in place since Columbine. 

Trump, K. (2009). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.schoolsecurityblog.com/ 

Ken Trump is the President of a National School Safety and Security Services firm. His School Security Blog is a “news and opinion blog for educators, safety professionals, parents, media, and others who are passionate and concerned about K-12 school safety, security, and crisis/emergency preparedness.” I read over a dozen of his posts and posts by guest published on his website: schoolsecurityblog.com. While most posts are one-sided, his contributions to this issue are informative and valuable.  

Thesis 

The safety and security of our schools should be a top priority; but what strategies are truly effective and what measures are schools taking to prevent violence from happening in their town?

Issues and Strategies Identified 

“A tragedy of unspeakable terms,” were the words spoken by Connecticut Governor, Daniel Malloy. On December 14, 2012 twenty-six children and educators were killed when a disturbed man shot his way into an elementary school. The Newtown school shooting has brought attention to school security back up to the surface. Administrators, teachers, parents, and even students are now wondering the same thing; how safe are our schools? With the economy on the brink of a recession, and Federal and State aid being rerouted in order to pay for new mandates, many schools have been challenged to maintain their budgets with less. Schools everywhere, especially in New Jersey, have been forced to make weighty cuts and have reduced levels of security as a result. Should the security of our schools and the safety of our children be a top priority? The obvious answer is yes, but how this is achieved and at what cost is up for debate.

Violence in our nation’s schools has become one of our most gripping social problems. The Newtown school shooting is amongst the worst massacres our country has dealt with. Who can forget the preceding tragedies including the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 where thirty-two people were gunned down, and Columbine in 1999 where thirteen victims died in a Colorado high school. The worst mass school murder in American history took place in 1927 in Bath Township, Michigan when a former school board member set off three bombs that killed forty-five people (CBS news, 2012). Each horrific event increases the level of anxiety, and there is a real fear that if this could happen there, then it can happen anywhere.  

After Columbine virtually every school in America overhauled its security plan. Police changed the way they would respond to an active shooter, and now work closely with school administrators to establish crisis routines. Lockdown drills became a new practice, and today they are still routine and mandatory. Many schools not only require outside doors to be locked at all times, but classroom doors as well. The Chatham school district has established what is known as the “dowel system” at every school. A small object, usually a wooden dowel or a magnet is placed in the door jamb to prevent the door from closing all the way. The door handle remains locked, but the door can open and closed normally since the dowel prevents it from closing all the way. In an emergency, this object can be pulled within seconds allowing the door to be locked and secure. This method saves teachers valuable time searching for the classroom key, or worse being in the hallway exposing herself and students to the threat. Additionally, each building has established a crisis plan and procedures for each type of emergency situation are in place and practiced at least one a year.

Some schools have adopted a national teacher training program called A.L.I.C.E. which stands for: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evaluate. A.L.I.C.E. teaches potential victims to fight back against an armed gunman. The philosophy is for students to do everything and anything they can to distract him and buy time, including throwing items at the shooter and employing self-defense techniques. At least 1.6 million students in almost 300 school systems, from elementary schools to colleges and universities have had A.L.I.C.E. training (Carson, 2012). Security experts including Ken Trump, President of a National School Safety and Security Services firm, have declared this type of training as high-risk and unrealistic. "We should not expect schools to train students to bring a calculator, ipod or backpack to a gunfight. We should, however, demand that schools adequately prepare our school staff with best practices for preventing and responding to crisis situations to protect our children, teachers and school staff” (Trump, 2013). Parents and school boards have raised added concerns including the psychological effects this places on children. The majority of professionals would agree that A.L.I.C.E. training is a risky program that has the potential to make intruder situations even more dangerous, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this type of training is eventually outlawed in most districts.

Another consideration for school security: what about bombs? Before the shooting rampage started, Harris and Klebold stashed duffel bags containing propane-tank bombs into Columbine's cafeteria and kitchen area. They walked outside and waited, but thankfully, the bombs never went off. Police have said that if bombs had exploded, they would have killed nearly everyone in the cafeteria and most likely would have brought the school's second-story library down on top of it (Toppo, 2009). As seen in the recent Boston Marathon bombing, bombs were hidden in garbage cans along crowded areas on the street. Could a live video surveillance have prevented these bombs from detonating? How effective is video surveillance and does this curb violence in schools?

This year Chatham Middle School was fitted with security cameras that record what’s happening in almost every inch inside the school and a decent perimeter outside. A key card swipe system in order to enter the building was also installed. Administrators, teachers, and other staff can enter the building at any of the five entrances where the mechanism was installed. The entire cost of this project was $417,000 (P. Daquila, personal communication, April 15, 2013). Already, administrators at the middle school are praising the investment since they have provided valuable evidence for theft, student offenses in the hallways, and most significantly, the cameras helped pinpoint which seventh grade student brought a 9-inch switch blade knife to school last month. The camera footage certainly provides an advantage for numerous situations and they will continue to offer helpful information in the future.

            After numerous high-definition cameras were installed at an urban Chicago high school, administrators reported misconduct cases declined almost 60 percent compared with the previous year, and the number of arrests dropped by nearly 70 percent. The dropout rate also declined from 19 percent to 5 percent (Kennedy, 2012, p. 20). Once word spreads that cameras can identify and connect you to where an incident took place, no one is willing to test out the system. Still, security cameras are beneficial mainly after an act has already been committed. They may serve as a deterrent, but certainly will not always prevent crimes from happening, and they will not ultimately stop any violent act.

A recent push by some officials and the National Rifle Association is to have armed guards at all school buildings, or better yet, arm classroom teachers. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" (Memmott, 2012). This advice from Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s executive Vice President, is criticized not only by anti-gun supporters but also trained defense experts and police.  Chatham Township Police officer, Anthony LoPorto told me, “An armed teacher or even police officer is not going to stop a lone wolf. A deranged gunman will with a plan to kill will carry out his mission any way he can” (A. LoPorto, personal communication, April 19, 2013). Greg Crane, a former teacher and SWAT officer, notes that “even trained police officers miss roughly three-quarters of their shots fired in the line of duty” (Carson, 2012). Governor Chris Christie has also said that he doesn't believe having armed guards will make schools safer or encourage learning (Terkel, 2012). Research has shown that armed guards and other highly visible efforts to increase school safety make children feel less safe at school, undermining their ability to learn (Terkel, 2012). Arming teachers will continue to be a highly controversial idea and is unlikely to be supported by the majority of political leaders and boards of education since many other costs and liabilities attached to this slim reality. What is being supported in many places, and what districts are prioritizing in their budgets, however, is the hiring of armed security to stand watch at schools.

Chatham is one of the few districts in New Jersey who held an April election this year. In addition to the budget vote to exceed the 2 percent tax cap, two public questions directly stemming from the Newtown tragedy were voted on and passed. The first question sought approval for the district to hire a full-time Student Assistance Counselor for the middle school. Currently, the high school SAC counselor spends one day a week working with at-risk middle schoolers. The newly hired SAC counselor will be a mental health expert who can identify and refer students in need of services. The Superintendent strongly prioritizes attention to mental health issues, and believes intervention and prevention are the keys to preventing violence. The parents of the district greatly supported this position and the administrators at the middle school are currently working to hire an experienced counselor who will be able to advise students and create effective programs to address this issue. The second public question asked voters to approve the use of $225,000 to be used to increase the security at each of the schools. I asked Peter Daquilla, the Business Administrator for my district what these funds would be allocated for. Mr. Daquilla informed me that a part-time director of security will be hired and that there will also be two part-time security monitors assigned to each school. The passing of these questions has allowed these positions to become yearly budgeted expenses.

Another response to Newtown was the purchase of an emergency “potty” bucket for every classroom in the district. The district spent $6,600 on these kits. The toilet kit consists of a five-gallon bucket with lid, an attachable plastic seat, and a plastic wrapping that can be used as a “privacy” blanket. Teachers were told that this toilet should be stored in their classroom and that it is to be used only in an emergency. Understandably, in a lockdown situation it could be many hours before students or staff are able to access a restroom. But does anyone believe any person, adult or child over the age of six would actually use that bucket to relieve themselves in front others locked inside the same room? Besides, doesn’t every classroom have a trash can? In a true emergency, why couldn’t someone use that? This may have been wasteful spending and districts should prioritize their security spending to make their schools as safe as possible.

Security measures will continue to be debated since it is impossible to know how much security is enough to protect our schools from an attack. Even with unlimited funding, making schools 100% safe is an impossible task. Many people argue the bottom line that if someone wants to do harm to others, an assailant will find a way to get around security measures in place. Today, the priority for school security is at an all-time high, and it will be interesting to see as time goes on whether the increased security measures and funding sticks for all schools.

 

References

 

Carson, D. (Writer) (2012, October 11). To survive a shooting, students learn to fight back. NPR. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2012/10/11/162712905/to-survive-a-shooting-students-learn-to-fight-back

 

Candoli, C., Guthrie, J.W., Hack, W.G., Hart, C.C., & Ray, J,R. (2008). Modern School Business Administration: A Planning Approach. Boston, MA: Pearson

 

CBS News: 27 dead, including 20 children, in elementary school shooting. (2012, December 14). Retrieved from http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2012/12/14/school-shooting-leaves-multiple-injured/

 

Kennedy, M. (2012). Today’s school security. American School & University, 16-22.

 

Memmott, M. (2012, December 21). Only 'a good guy with a gun' can stop school shootings, nra says. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/12/21/167785169/live-blog-nra-news-conference

 

Terkel, A. (2012, December 21). Columbine high school had armed guard during massacre in 1999 . Huffinton Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/columbine-armed-guards_n_2347096.html

 

Toppo, G. (2009, April 19). 10 years later, the real story behind columbine. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm

 

Trump, K. (2013, March). [Hijacking school safety: Politicians, gun control, NRA, & civil rights activists show no shame]. Retrieved from http://www.schoolsecurityblog.com/2013/03/hijacking-school-safety-politicians-gun-control-nra-civil-rights-activists-show-no-shame/