By Alex Gounaris
Staff Writer &
Ethan Walshe
Editor-in-Chief
In light of the recent mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday, Westford Academy has decided to implement a number of new procedures regarding security.
WA Principal Jim Antonelli met with Superintendent Bill Olsen, Westford Chief of Police Thomas McEnaney, all principals of Westford Public Schools, and school committee members on Monday to discuss current school safety measures, and possible security reforms to prevent another event similar to what Sandy Hook experienced.
“We reviewed all crisis response protocols,” said Antonelli.
Significant changes taking place within the Westford Academy community are as follows:
There will be an armed resource officer on school grounds. In February, Westford Academy will be staffed with an armed resource officer. The role of a resource officer includes patrolling school grounds, preventing juvenile delinquency, providing guidance on ethical issues, and mentoring students on a personal level. Although resource officers have a large obligation to maintain a safe school environment, their skills allow them to build a relationship with the student body.
Staff members will wear identification badges from the school on their person at all times. While this is not currently a mandate, it is being strongly suggested by Antonelli. This is to ensure that school personnel can quickly and easily be identified.
All doors to classrooms will be locked during school hours. Doors will be locked but can remain open so that students and staff can easily walk through. However, in the event of a lockdown, a teacher will not need to exit the room in order to lock the door from the outside.
Administrative assistants will be more vigilant with regards to allowing visitors into the building. There are already a number of things that the administrative assistants consider when “buzzing” visitors into the building and this is to continue. However, Antonelli spoke of potentially having a set of questions be implemented before any visitor is allowed into WA.
“Questions could be ‘please state your name,’ ‘what is the purpose of your visit?’ and ‘where are you going?’… therefore, when a person comes in they have to answer a couple more questions before they get into the building … if they are irritated or agitated, if they are carrying something that we don’t recognize and so forth.. we will certainly be aware of it,” said Antonelli.
Maintenance personnel must be let in through the main office. For example, if someone came to the school to repair a plumbing issue, they must enter through the main office and be buzzed in as indicated above.
Some areas of the building will be gated and closed off after school hours. All access to the second floor of WA will be restricted after 5:00 p.m. unless they are accompanied by a special escort.
In addition to these six new regulations, students are strongly encouraged not to hold the doors open for people they do not recognize. Signs stating this will be posted by major entrances in the near future.
“I think it gets more lax in the spring because doors tend to be propped open downstairs. Gym classes are going in and out and I have strictly said [to the staff] that doors need to be kept closed and locked,” said Antonelli.
School security is an issue all school districts are facing in the aftermath of the tragedy in Newtown because all parents and teachers want their “kids” to be safe.
“I come here everyday, thinking every one of you kids are my kids, 1700 kids, and having two of my own [children] here, it struck a chord like you can’t believe … my job first and foremost is I want you guys to feel safe in this building … I struggled with this all weekend. I had moments of darkness when I was very emotional, tears in my eyes…this is a game changer for our country,” said Antonelli.
