Safety Remains Top Priority For Stoughton Schools

STOUGHTON, MA — School and police officials assured parents this week that student safety is one of their top priorities when kids are inside Stoughton school buildings.

The Stoughton Public Schools held a school safety forum Monday at the high school. The event follows last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead.

David Guglia, an assistant principal at O’Donnell Middle School and security supervisor in charge of drills and training, said the school district has been using the ALICE system for the past six years. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security-endorsed plan encourages students and teachers to take measures to become a harder target during an incident such as barricading themselves inside a classroom.

Stoughton Police Det. Robert Kuhn added that the town tries to make anyone who is near children ALICE trained, including teachers, administrators, public safety officials, some town hall staff, and even workers at IKEA.

“We try to hit everywhere these children area, whether it’s after school or before school or between,” Kuhn said.

Communication between school and police officials is also a big part of the security plan. Kuhn noted that not every threat is made known to the public, including a recent one involving middle school students in Stoughton making a threat against a teacher in Brockton. That set off a chain of events in both communities and the students were dealt with.

“Are you going to hear about every time we communicate about a situation? You’re not. Every now and then something makes the news,” Kuhn said.

Supertindent Marguerite Rizzi said new security features are being added to the new high school, but declined to go into specifics citing the need to keep some security plan features from being broadcasted.

“This building will have features you are not used to seething,” Rizzi said.

One thing parents will not see is teachers with guns. When Rizzi was asked about the possibility, she answered with a blunt, “no.”

Officials said the schools have lockdown drills and hope to do them quarterly.

Below is the full forum:

Image: File Photo