The High Cost of Safety

Dare I even breath the word?

Dare I remind you of that stunningly sad Friday morning when our run of the mill routine was suddenly and forever broken.  By a madman ... with a gun.  Unleashing barrage after barrage of .223 caliber bullets on our most innocent, priceless possession: Children.

And the teachers and staff parents entrusted them with, who died defending their helpless young students in a heroic attempt to uphold that trust. 

Newtown.  Sandy Hook Elementary School.  A tragedy of epic proportions now forever known by either moniker.  What 9/11 did for airline security, Newton has done for school security. 

Take Amherst's three elementary schools for instance.  This morning the schools director of facilities and maintenance Ron Bohonowicz paid a visit to the Joint Capital Planning Committee to defend capital item requests for the upcoming fiscal year.

Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities and Maintenance, right 

One such item is $150,000 for new "columbine" locks on all doors in the town's three elementary schools (average cost $300/lock) ) as well as panic bars for the inside of doors.  Currently the Middle School and High School have such locks. 

In addition to physical upgrades the schools have also instituted new security procedures for parent pick up, lock the main doors and use security cameras to screen visitors, plus have periodic security inspections with APD and AFD.

$150,000 for locks and panic bars is, indeed, expensive.  But so are the cost of funerals.  

(Sad) Sign of The Times

Crocker Farm School Staff participated in a security drill this afternoon

Amherst schools have continued to tweak security protocols in the wake of the Newtown tragedy. But nothing radical, as they are not exactly reinventing the wheel.

According to ARPS Superintendent Maria Geryk, "We are fortunate that we have spent lots of time creating our safety plans over the years, so that we are not making major adjustments at the moment. We are just really tightening up some of our procedures."

She continues, "I expect that there will be additional changes over time as we spend more time updating our plans."

Today's exercise was a "school level drill" vs the more expansive district level "table top drills" orchestrated in conjunction with Amherst police and fire departments. Superintendent Geryk reports "Things are going well with these brief drills."

According to a pundit the Newtown massacre will do for school security what 9/11 did for airport security.  True enough.

Just as a gorgeous September morning with perfect temperatures under a deep blue cloudless sky, can never again be innocently enjoyed quite the same; neither will the sights and sounds of a room full of happy, chatty, first graders.

Schools talk safety