By James Lomuscio
By a vote of 28 to 0 with 1 abstention, Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) tonight approved a $200,000 Board of Education request for the installation of 1,425 high security, classroom locks recommended by Kroll Security, Inc. in response to concerns generated by the Newtown school shootings nearly a year-and-a-half ago.
Elio Longo, school business administrator, shows a lock to RTM members tonight. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
According to Jack Klinge, who spoke on behalf of the RTM’s Education and Finance committees that unanimously recommended the appropriation, the $200,000 from the Capital and Nonrecurring Budget would be offset by a $40,000 state grant. Klinge said that the installation of the locks would begin this summer.
“This is our first hardware security measure district wide,” said Elio Longo, school business administrator, adding that other requests would be forthcoming.
RTM member Diane Cady, who represents District 1, abstained. Cady said earlier that she was “troubled with how long this has taken,” and expressed concern about front and side entrances.
Klinge, who is a substitute teacher at Staples High School, had also repeatedly complained about the security upgrade slowness.
He noted that every classroom in every public school would be fitted with the locks on doors that will open in and immediately lock behind them and can only be opened by the outside by an administrator or teacher with a key.
Kristin Hamlin, a former prosecutor who represents District 4, wanted assurances that first responders would have keys, too, in the case of a “morbid scenario” in which an assailant would somehow get inside a classroom.
“I assure you that we will share the key with first (responders), providing access to all officers,” Longo said.
The school business manager said that as part of the security review, all Westport police officers now have swipe card access to all schools.
He said when he took over last summer, only sergeants or higher ranking officers had the cards.
And that limited swipe card access was only granted months after the December 2012 Newtown shootings, according to police officials, who initially were not consulted by the school district in seeking an outside security consultant.
Some officers had complained privately that PTA mothers had swipe card access to the schools but not the police.
Klinge pointed out that while the classrooms would be secured, school libraries, cafeterias and gymnasiums would have no such locking systems.
“That’s where we’re most vulnerable, where we want to address our attention next,” Klinge said.
Elaine Whitney, school board chairwoman, said that working with Kroll, those concerns would be included in future security measures.
In response to criticism that the school board had acted too slow in implementing security measures, she said the school administrators wanted to get it right.
While there had been an initial desire to take such measures as changing the locks more quickly, she said in hindsight that likely would have cost more money and not been done as the security experts later recommended.
Whitney also said since Newtown, certain operational measures have been taken to enhance security, but did not give details.
RTM member Arthur Ashman asked if the door glass had been tested, since shattered glass could allow an intruder to open the door from the inside.
Longo said the schools were looking at wire mesh for the windows.
“The whole principle is about deterrence and time,” said Whitney.
Hamlin took up Ashman’s concern, saying that “the locks would be ineffective,” if the glass could be broken.
“We need to address the issue of glass as soon as possible,” she said.
In other action, after lengthy debate, the RTM voted 25 to 3 with 2 abstentions not to reject an agreement between the Westport Board of Education and the Westport Intermediate Administrators Association for the period covering July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2017.
Don Bergmann, District 1, urged members to reject the agreement and send it to arbitration, saying it was too costly.
But Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon argued that lawyer and mediator fees would likely cost more than what would be gained in arbitration.
Jeff Wieser, chair of the RTM Finance Committee, expressed sympathy for Bergmann’s position and noted that the Board of Finance had approved the Board of Education 2014-15 budget request on a 4-3 vote.
He said this indicated unhappiness with the rate of education spending increases which he agreed with the board was not sustainable.
But he said he would vote not to reject the contract and added that the topic would no doubt come up when the RTM begins its annual consideration of the town and school budgets beginning Monday.
Following the RTM action on the budgets, the Board of Finance will meet in late May to set the tax mill rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
