Bridgewater Mayor Criticizes Superintendent's School Security Plan

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater's mayor and the superintendent of Bridgewater-Raritan School District are disagreeing on a plan to up school security for the end of this year.

Mayor Matthew Moench announced Monday that Bridgewater Police officers will be at every district building until the end of the school year, June 23.

Superintendent Robert Beers said he and district leaders were not consulted about the decision, TAPInto reported. The district's own plan calls for armed security officers who aren't police, and who wouldn't be in every building, according to TAPInto. Beers has said this plan fits the district budget and is similar to what other schools use, TAPInto reported.

Moench sent an email to the township Wednesday night, June 22, urging residents to "review the facts below, and make your voice heard immediately." Moench said Beers' plan does not adequately protect students and staff.

"No issue is more critical for Bridgewater parents than school security," Moench wrote. "Superintendent Beers has released his plan, which employs armed 'campus monitors' instead of sworn police officers, and does not provide for an officer in every school every day of the school year

"I believe that any viable security plan must provide exactly that: sworn police officers deployed to protect every student, every day," Moench said in the email.

Patch has reached out to Beers for comment.