Norfolk DA Gives Medfield Schools Over $3K in Safety Grant Funds

Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey acknowledged at Monday’s School Committee meeting it’s a challenge keeping children safe and rewarded Medfield Public Schools for its efforts to meet that challenge head-on.

"[Medfield] is one of the biggest spending schools in [prevention and student safety programs]," Morrissey said. "I’m aware of the effort you make to keep your schools safe and I’m happy to participate in a small way."

That small way totaled $3,250 in safety grant funds as Morrissey presented two checks to the Medfield School District to continue funding and expand its student safety programs and efforts.

"[We know there's] a number of projects that come up [regarding student safety] and a variety of issues that cost money so we have a $3,000 check for that [to give to Medfield Public Schools]," Morrissey said.

The other check presented to Medfield schools Monday was $250 for the senior class' All Night Graduation Party held annually in June.

"I know the administration, especially in the high school, work hard to keep kids safe," Morrissey said. "With both prom and graduation – where you have an all-night party – there’s a $250 check for the parents’ [All Night Graduation Party] event. I know it’s an expensive proposition to put on and it’s worthwhile to keep kids safe."

School Committee chair Debra Noschese expressed appreciation to Morrissey while accepting the checks at the conclusion of the DA's presentation.

"Thank you so much," Noschese said. "It is such an important topic and it’s something that’s dear to all the parents."

Medfield Superintendent of Schools Bob Maguire said while the town has a "small number of juvenile issues," it is important the district gets the help it can, when it can.

"We have an ongoing relationship with [the DA's] office, where representatives from his office meet with school staff and local police staff to help us deal with the small number of juvenile issues that we do face," Maguire said. ... "[Morrissey] has been a great friend of the Medfield Public Schools in his tenure as DA."

Morrissey said the working relationship he and his office has with Medfield goes a long way in keeping children safe, which is a joint effort between him, his staff and the Medfield community.

"One of the bigger problems that we are dealing with is just keeping children safe and I know that’s a top priority for the entire school committee and the superintendent," Morrissey said. ... "We are looking at how to keep kids safe."

Morrissey said his safety programs provide alternatives to juveniles and law enforcement alike when mistakes are made and it is about making sure the punishment fits the crime appropriately, while educating offenders.

"Kids do some odd things that doesn’t necessarily mean they should get a criminal record out of it, so we do work with that," Morrissey said. ... "We work with the local community and local police to try and come up with alternatives that deals with better decision-making [by juveniles] and community service [as a form of punishment]. ... The last thing I want to do is see one of your children."

Morrissey's safety grants, like the one presented to Medfield Monday, are funded through cash and/or car sales resulting from drug arrests.

"When [local police and state police detectives] make an arrest on a drug case, [the cash] and/or the cars that we sell off [are often kept] so that the money can be used for limited purposes."

One of those purposes, according to Morrissey, is for "safe and secure schools," like Medfield.

"We are happy to partner with both the police and the schools," Morrissey said. "People come in all the time and we do a lot of programs. If we can be of assistance than we are more than happy to help out because education and prevention are at the top of my list."

Morrissey also credited the work of the teachers throughout the Medfield School System for keeping the community's youth safe.

"My hat goes off to the teachers as well," Morrissey said. "I came from a family of teachers. My father is a retired teacher, my sister teaches in the Quincy schools and my wife is an administrator so I have to hear about it all the time."

The School Committee was also presented with a video featuring a small presentation that can be viewed in Medfield classrooms in hopes of educating students about drug use.

"The video deals with what parents can do," Morrissey said. "Also tells a four-minute story about a heroin addict. It also tells people what is out there. We hope people take advantage of it."

Norfolk County is 'A Very Safe County’

Morrissey shared some statistics about Norfolk County at Monday's meeting - calling it a "very safe County" but still pointing out an area of concern.

"We don’t see a lot of murders and when we do, it’s usually people that know each other," Morrissey said. "Last year there were seven. That’s good news ... the bad news is what we do see a lot of is motor vehicular homicide – 63 last year. With motor vehicular homicides, most of them were alcohol or substance abuse related, so a high percentage. That’s the difficult part. That doesn’t include the people that were seriously injured."