KATY SAVAGE
Special to the Eagle Times
A task force on school safety held its first meeting this week and will continue meeting over the next 60-90 days to evaluate safety protocols and recommend action steps to Gov. Chris Sununu.
In the wake of school shootings and gun violence, the govenror recently announced a task force to tackle the school safety issue.
The Governor’s School Safety Preparedness Task Force is made up of fire department chiefs, school board members, police officers, parents and students.
The members were instructed to evaluate mental health services, school safety infrastructure, emergency plans and background checks, among other duties.
“If we cannot put our children on the school bus and know they are safe, nothing else matters,” the governor said in a letter to task force members.
New Hampshire Director of Homeland Security Perry Plummer said about 120 people will be working on solutions to make schools safer.
“There is no one thing that will make all our schools safe. It’s a series of things,” he said.
A recent shooting in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 17 students and staff members, riled the nation and brought the issue to the forefront.
Students around the country walked out of their classrooms on Wednesday to protest Congress’s inaction to tighten gun laws as a result of shootings.
About 130 of 542 students walked out at Stevens High Schools. Another 120 walked out in Newport, where
SAU 43 Superintendent Cynthia Gallagher said homeland security will reviewing school safety in Newport next week. There are about 333 students enrolled at Newport Middle High School.
The review was scheduled prior to the shootings in Florida, but Gallagher said more could be done to improve security in the buildings.
Maple Ave. Elementary School Principal Dan Cherry said the district is assessing security in all of the buildings.
Claremont voters recently passed an article to appropriate $141,000 to school security upgrades that involve new cameras, door-locking mechanisms and window shades. The total cost of the project, $702,475, will be provided by a grant.
Though new infrastructure will help, officials still question if that will be enough.
“It’s everyone’s worst nightmare,” Principal Cherry said, when asked about what happened in Florida. “How do you prevent something like that from happening? It’s scary.”
SAU 6 Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin said schools and church buildings are no longer sacred.
“I don’t think any school in any part of New Hampshire or any part of the country is immune to violent behavior,” McGoodwin said. “This is not a Florida issue. This is a national issue.”
New Hampshire has been identifying school security gaps since Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.
Homeland Security and Emergency Management has evaluated 88 percent of New Hampshire’s public schools since they started four years ago. HSEM has provided trainings and helped establish school security programs, said Plummer.
The governor invested $20 million to help schools improve security infrastructure. Local schools have also started re-evaluating training protocols.
The governor’s task force includes a number of subgroups that will examine all safety measures.
Sununo said the task force will “ensure New Hampshire has the safest schools in the nation.”
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