Learn Details Of Brick Schools' $12M Security Referendum

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Board of Education will have presentations on its planned $12 million referendum for safety and security improvements at the district's schools Thursday night at its monthly school board meeting.

The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Professional Development Center, at the Veterans Memorial schools complex off Van Zile Road (enter at Harrison Avenue).

The referendum, approved at the April 26 meeting when the board approved the 2018-19 school budget, will ask voters whether they want to spend $12 million on security upgrades throughout the district that would include creating secure entrances at every school in the district that do not allow immediate and easy access to the rest of the building. In some cases, that will mean relocating main offices. In others, it will require creating vestibules that limit access to the building.

Additional items in the referendum are electronically controlled locking mechanisms to lock all classroom doors at once, ID systems that will require visitors to present a valid driver's license and more.

The items in the referendum were the result of discussions on a district security committee that included Dennis Filippone, who was the interim superintendent at the time; Brick Township Police Chief James Riccio, and an outside security consultant, district officials have said.

The referendum will be on the ballot at the Nov. 6 general election.

Security in schools has been a main topic for districts across the country in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 students and staff members on Feb. 14. Filippone and Riccio said at the time that security reviews and safety measures were an ongoing topic of discussion even before the shooting, but the incident prompted another review to see what more could be done.

Riccio and Filippone will be on hand Thursday night to speak about the district's security measures, and the architect will go over the proposals in the referendum. There also will be a safety report presented at the meeting.

The district sent out a message through its Honeywell alerts system on Tuesday to notify parents in the district of the meeting.

Patch will share the meeting on Facebook live. The district also broadcasts its board meetings live on YouTube.

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Brick school district staff and township officials address student concerns about security at a March meeting at Brick Memorial High School that was held in the wake of the Parkland shooting. Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff