Newtown resident Walter Motyka told the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night that he thinks the town and schools would be best served by hiring a security firm if they intend to put post armed guards in the district’s elementary schools.
He said these firms are well-equipped to train personnel, manage them and assure that costs are reasonable. They, too, know the type of people who will work best because “you change the culture when you have armed personnel.”
The school and town are currently considering the best approach to provide security personnel, particularly armed police, at the elementary schools. The town has long provided trained school resource officers at the high school, middle school and intermediate school. Those are Police Department personnel.
In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, the schools immediately were given extra police patrols, with the police officers assigned to the in-district elementary school paid for on an overtime basis out of the town’s contingency fund. Monroe covered the costs for the relocated Sandy Hook Elementary: one police officer guarding the driveway and two assigned to inside the school. Federal grants have covered a chunk of those costs.
For the coming year, the schools are considering a new formula where nine of their 17 guards - they also have a security director _ would be retired police trained specifically to be in the schools. The school budget accounts for $324,000 of the total cost of $540,000. No decision has yet been reached on how to budget for the difference, although again federal grants are anticipated. The bigger question is who will be responsible for this ongoing security once the grants are gone.
First Selectman Pat Llodra assured that careful consideration is being given to what type of school security the community will have going forward, and how it will be paid. On Feb. 27, at 7 p.m., the Board of Finance will lead that very discussion with the Board of Education, Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council.
Anyone interested in this matter should plan to attend as the meetings all include public participation.