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Ideally, one guard would be on duty from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and another from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to ensure at least one person is monitoring the building at all times that students and staff are there, Hohn said. Many kids are involved in before-school and after-school programs, when guards are currently not on duty, he said.
The security guards at the front doors of each building help regulate who enters and leaves the school, Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said. The guards' roles in the schools would need to be more clearly defined, he said.
“They could be friend, they could be foe, but at least we have an idea of who is in the building,” Hohn said. Police officers at every school would be “the Cadillac option” and may not be affordable, he said.
Hohn and Kennedy are part of the task force assigned to examine all schools for security measures after the deadly shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The task force presented the first of its findings to the Education/Audit Committee of the city’s Board of Finance on Wednesday night. A full report will be completed by April.
In addition to security personnel at the schools, the task force also suggested making classroom doors lock from the inside, keeping doors locked during the day and making windows more difficult to break, along with other building improvements to increase security.
“We’re looking to buy time, and these are ways to buy time,” Hohn said.
The public schools recently applied for a $50 million bond and received $52.7 million. Finance board member David Martin hopes the extra money received can be used to make the capital improvements suggested. He has not presented this idea to the rest of the board but was hopeful they would go for it.
School superintendent Winifred Hamilton said she has budgeted for a panic button system to be installed in the schools and has $500,000 set aside for safety, security and mental health issues.
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