BY TIMOTHY LAROCHE
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CLAREMONT — In response to an uptick in threats of school violence, Gov. Chris Sununu announced this week the formation of a task force to promote increased school safety protocols.
The Governor’s School Safety Preparedness Taskforce will be composed of lawmakers and law enforcement and school officials from around the state. The group will review safety protocols and emergency management plans. Task force members have not yet been announced.
“We will not stop until our schools are the safest in the nation,” Sununu said. “If we can’t put our kids on the school bus and know they are safe, nothing else matters.”
The task force announcement coincides with moves to expand the Public School Infrastructure Fund, which is investing nearly $20 million in state funds for infrastructure and security upgrades. Claremont voters will decide whether to use such fund on March 13 as the question of security upgrades comes to the ballot.
The third article on the Claremont ballot would appropriate $141,000 for security upgrades at the district’s schools. In total, the project would cost $702,425, with 80 percent — about $562,000 — coming from the Public School Infrastructure Fund.
“It is very important for school officials to be able to observe danger and potential threats,” Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin said in a weekend press release. “Surveillance cameras assist with deterring dangerous behavior, play an important role in evidence collecting, and can be invaluable when used to locate victims or perpetrators. Further, the ability to prevent unauthorized persons from entering a school facility is vital with protecting everyone in the school.”
Across the state, more than $16 million in similar infrastructure funding has been earmarked. The fund covers security camera upgrades, door locking mechanisms, reinforced doors and windows and other security equipment.
Since 2012, New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management department has recommended that schools across the state install such security features. Claremont’s warrant article follows recommendations from a 2015 Homeland Security Assessment.
Out of New Hampshire’s 668 schools, 481 have received security assessments from the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
“We urge schools to be proactive in their communications with parents regarding the safety preparedness steps they are taking,” Sununu said. “At the same time, schools are strongly encouraged to take advantage of state programs being offered including emergency management grants used to enhance communications between schools and first responders and additional resources available to assist with school preparedness exercises.”
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