Toms River School Board Hears Security Concerns

TOMS RIVER, NJ – A week after 17 students and teachers were shot and killed in a Florida high school, the topic of what is being done to protect and reassure students in the Toms River school district.

Much like the passions and fears of parents across the country, the discussion and comments Wednesday night at the Toms River Regional Board of Education meeting ran the gamut, from intense fears to gratitude for what is being done.

There also was a commitment to revive the Super Safe Schools Committee to go over what steps can be taken to further beef up security at the district's 18 schools. On Tuesday, the district distributed a letter that aimed to assure parents and guardians that the district has a good relationship with the police departments in each of its towns – Toms River, South Toms River, Beachwood and Pine Beach – and saying security efforts are being reviewed to see what more can be done to protect students.

Safety for students at school has been center stage since Valentine's Day, when 14 students and three teachers were killed and 14 others were injured during a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The accused gunman, a former student, gained access to the school despite a number of security measures put in place, including a single entryway to the school. News reports also have questioned his mental fitness to own the firearm that was used in the shooting, an AR-15.

"I came here tonight looking for something that would make me feel safe," one mother said. "You're not making me feel safe. We need to know what you are doing."

The board declined to discuss specifics of the plans in the public meeting, citing the need to shield those measures from those who might seek to exploit a weakness.

The mother, however, pressed for a tangible display of what is being done to protect schools.

"Will there be armed guards at the schools? Tell us what you are doing," she said.

Board member Dan Leonard, who represents Beachwood, said the board is reviving a committee called the Safe Schools committee, to look at the issue. The committee met with parents and staff in following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December 2012.

Specifics on a date and place are still being settled, Leonard said, but they will be posted on the district's website.

Another mother urged the board to see to it that children who have issues are not just shuffled through school but that something is done to address the problem.

"Change the way we treat kids with a problem. I have a son in first grade been punched by the same girl three times. She’s been sent to the office," the mother said. "I understand you can't throw a first-grader out of school but if in first grade she's punching kids all the time, what's going to happen in fifth or seventh?"

She urged the district to emphasize the "see something, say something" message with students so someone can intervene with troubled students.

"We can be so prepared (with safety measures) but I feel like we can nip it in the bud" if students with issues are identified and dealt with right away, she said.

While some parents focused on the security measures, one mother took the time to point out what teachers and staff are doing to reassure the students. Anna Polozzo of South Toms River thanked district personnel for their efforts, citing one teacher who took a chunk of time out of class to tell his students specifically what he would do to protect them.

"Should something terrible happen, he told them he would make sure he died first," she said. Her younger child was reassured knowing the staff and teachers at her school would do everything to protect her, as well.

Zach Dougherty, the Toms River North junior who spearheaded Monday's protest on the steps of the Ocean County Library, publicly thanked Principal Ed Keller for supporting the students at North.

"He acknowledged our feelings. He said he would stand with us in solidarity," Dougherty said. "I just wanted to thank my principal for showing he cares."

He said the student movement to fight gun violence at schools will continue to grow.

"Securing the schools is just a Band-Aid to the problem," Dougherty said. "This isn’t some political thing. Every student wants to be heard."

"This is a real issue and this is affecting every student, every teacher, in every school," he said.

Board member Christopher Raimann said the board is concerned about the safety of the schools and is taking the concerns about how to best protect students seriously.

"If we stick together everthing will get better," he said.

Zach Dougherty addresses the school board. Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff