The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, in her successful drive to strip Ridgewood taxpayers from voting on school budgets, Siobhan Winograd claimed elections put Ridgewood school kids at risk of violence or worse.
Continue reading Siobhan Winograd Claimed Voters Put Ridgewood School Kids at Risk of Violence
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
HARRINGTON PARK NJ, the Harrington Park is staring off the school year by installing bullet-proof doors throughout the schools district. The district has purchased more than 50 of the 150-pound steel doors at a cost of $2500 each.
The district explains that when you turn the lock of the door, 12 steel bars are engaged. This is an added feature to the thick steel construction and bullet-resistant glass.
Continue reading Heightened Security at Bergen County Schools
March 24,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, The Hackensack School District, as well as the mayor of Hackensack John P. Labrosse, Jr. , are working on a plan to increase security at all area schools.
Mayor John Labrosse says the town has a plan being finalized to put retired police officers in every school.The retired officers would be assigned to the middle school, four elementary schools and the pre-K program.
Hackensack High School will continue to be protected by a school resource officer, who is a current Hackensack Police Department member.
The current focus is on funding for the plan.
On March 14th Hackensack High School did not participate in the “student led walkout ” in support of the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas H.S. in Parkland, Florida , due to a security threat.
HHS Update regarding March 14, 2018
Dear Hackensack School Community,
In response to security concerns brought to the attention of Administration at Hackensack High School earlier today, Tuesday, March 13, the walk-out planned for tomorrow has been cancelled.
Instead, student organizers will share a presentation in support of the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas H.S. in Parkland, Florida, that will be streamed to all classrooms via the school TV Studio.
The safety of all students and staff is a critical priority. Any potential threat is taken very seriously. As a precautionary measure and to reassure students and staff, there will be an increased police presence at HHS tomorrow, Wednesday, March 14.
We ask all parents/guardians and community members that when you “see something” or “hear something” that concerns you, you need to “SAY SOMETHING.”
-Rosemary Marks/Andrea Parchment
March 9.2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, it is being reported by several news outlets that Hawes Elementary School reported and intruder sometime last week .The incident happened around 8pm last Wednesday evening. The man was not inside the school but was on school property and walked up Stevens.
The intruder or trespasser was described as a 26 year old from Newark who appeared drugged out or under the influence of something. It has been reported that the man in question asked directions , was given them , left and the police were immediately called.
The Ridgewood Police responded ,noticed incoherent behavior and the 26-year-old Newark man was taken into custody and charged with being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance and then transported to New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for treatment.
The original reports omitted the incident happened at night after school hours . The incident has many on edge over school safety ,but appears to be nothing more than another drug related incident.
February 20,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, here is a white paper prepared by the NJ School Security Task Force.
On December 14, 2012, a gunman blasted through a glass entryway at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and within minutes murdered 20 children and six adults. Since the day of the tragedy, local boards of education throughout our nation have faced the question: What else must be done to ensure the safety and security of schoolchildren?
The New Jersey School Boards Association’s Safe and Secure Schools Project was an immediate response to that question and involved a major statewide forum on school security at The College of New Jersey in January 2013. As a continuation of that effort, NJSBA President John Bulina appointed a School Security Task Force in March 2013 to provide the Association’s membership with additional guidance and direction on school safety issues.
What Makes Schools Safe?, the final report of the NJSBA School Security Task Force, is the culmination of a year’s work to inform the discussion of school safety and security. The report and its 45 recommendations should be viewed as a resource to help determine further federal, state and local action to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of our students.
https://www.njsba.org/…/research/school-security-task-force/
file photo by Boyd Loving
JUNE 19, 2015, 5:26 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2015, 5:26 PM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A state Superior Court judge has ruled that a dozen Bergen County school districts were within their rights to redact details of their school security drills before turning drill records over to a TV station probing alleged irregularities.
Superior Court Judge Robert P. Contillo wrote in the decision that the safety and security concerns voiced by the districts outweighed plaintiff WNBC-TV’s interest in receiving un-redacted records. The redactions, he wrote, which varied district-to-district but generally blacked out the date, time, and length of the drills, were “necessary to protect defendants’ interest in maintaining the safety and integrity of the school community.”
“Any other result would risk this information falling into the wrong hands and being of use in an effort to cause harm,” he wrote.
Donald Doherty, attorney for plaintiff WNBC-TV, was disappointed by the June 4 ruling, which he said didn’t make sense given that other districts freely gave the network the information.
“If it was such a security risk, you’d have thought everybody would have thought [so],” he said. “But I’m not the judge.”
Doherty said he doesn’t plan to appeal the decision, but that that “doesn’t mean we think the judge is right.”
Named in the station’s Feb. 20 suit were the boards of education in Allendale, Bergenfield, Englewood Cliffs, Hillsdale, Oakland, Old Tappan, Ramapo-Indian Hills, Ramsey, River Vale, and Tenafly, as well as the Bergen County Technical and Special Services districts. Also named were those districts’ business administrators, who serve as public records custodians.
Survey: Since Newtown school attack 85% of N.J. school districts have tightened security
OCTOBER 28, 2014, 9:00 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2014, 9:00 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Print
Since the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn., more than 85 percent of school districts in New Jersey have taken new security measures, including adding cameras, hiring security and making building changes, according to a 2013 survey of local school officials.
Their responses were included as part of a report titled “What Makes Schools Safe?” released Tuesday by a task force of the New Jersey School Boards Association. The task force studied security improvements and made recommendations for school safety.
Of the 273 school board presidents and business administrators who answered the survey, about two-thirds said their schools had made technology improvements, including adding surveillance cameras and upgrading electronic access systems for buildings.
About 45 percent said they had made physical changes like safeguarding windows and doors and changing outside landscaping. Just under a quarter started using emergency alert systems, while an additional 31 percent added perimeter patrols.
Since Newtown, many schools have hired security personnel. About 17 percent of respondents use retired officers and 19 percent use non-police security, but the survey did not ask if those individuals carry weapons. An additional 2 percent employ part-time police who are paid less and don’t have training to work in schools.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/survey-since-newtown-school-attack-85-of-n-j-school-districts-have-tightened-security-1.1120219#sthash.iIoQ7Nzm.dpuf
