Greenwich School Board Requests $1.4M To Enhance Safety And Security

GREENWICH, CT — The Greenwich Board of Education voted Monday night to put forward an interim appropriation request to enhance school safety and security for the upcoming school year.

In a brief special meeting, the board voted seven in favor with one abstention to request $1.4 million which will be used to add campus safety monitors at each K-8 school and at Windrose; purchase additional hardware and security cameras; and mobilize Greenwich police patrol cars to the east, central and western parts of town.

The Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation and Representative Town Meeting will ultimately have to grant approval.

School officials worked with the Greenwich Police Department and Chief James Heavey over the summer to address safety and security following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, this past May.

"I want to say how grateful I am to Chief Heavey and all of his expertise," said Superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools Dr. Toni Jones on Monday. "We're excited about this interim and we look forward to meeting with the BET and RTM."

Board member Karen Kowalski said she appreciated the hard work that went into preparing the plan, but said she was "not certain about some aspects" of it.

Fellow board member Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony said the interim appropriation is a good start, but it's only the first step in an ongoing process to protect students, faculty and staff.

He noted that there wasn't much community feedback for the request, due to the urgency to put something together and the fact that it was summer.

"As we move forward into the school year and over the course of the year, obviously as a board we're going to have to continue to evaluate this and our other safety measures to make sure we're doing everything we can here that is appropriate," he said. "Given how the situation keeps changing, the recommendations we get from the security experts keep changing as current events evolve."

Students return to class on Sept. 1 in Greenwich. The district said there will be an increased police presence at schools to begin the year, similar to how school ended last June.