Post by Freehold Resident on Oct 9, 2006 14:17:09 GMT -5
10/6/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
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NJ probes school safety after Amish killings
BY WAYNE PARRY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEWARK(AP) -- As an Amish community in Pennsylvania continued to mourn children slain in a school shooting earlier this week, New Jersey's governor announced today that a new task force will review the security of Garden State schools.
Gov. Jon Corzine tabbed state Homeland Security Director Richard Canas to lead the panel. Other members are to be appointed in the coming weeks.
Five Amish girls were shot to death by a school intruder in Lancaster County, Pa., earlier this week; five other girls were wounded and one was reportedly near death Friday.
Other recent school shootings have taken place in Colorado and Wisconsin.
"Given the occurrences of the past weeks, I believe it is important that we conduct a thorough evaluation of the measures in place to keep our children safe in their learning environments," Corzine said.
The governor said the task force will improve needed communication between state, county and local governments.
The task force will conduct a simulated exercise involving a crisis at a school to see how state and local officials respond and interact. Similar exercises involving a pandemic influenza outbreak and a hurricane have been held in recent months.
"With everything that's happened, it's a legitimate question that school administrators, teachers, parents, government and law enforcement should be asking: Could it happen here, and what should we be doing?" Canas said.
One of the main things the task force will be looking at is how much New Jersey's initial round of school security enhancements still need to be improved. Former Gov. Richard Codey's 2005 school safety initiative, prompted in part by the Beslan school slaughter in Russia, where 333 people died, resulted in safety audits in more than 3,350 schools across the state.
The audits identified areas where schools needed to improve their security, established standards for school safety, and required schools to update their security plans each year.
The state Education Department, Attorney General's office and state police will be part of the new group.
Once the task force has been appointed, and key local players identified, a simulated exercise will be sprung upon them, Canas said.
"It would be a (simulated) violent event like those that have occurred recently," he said. "It could be a terrorist attack, or just some wacko that decides to do something like the individual in Pennsylvania."
Security measures vary widely by school.
Schools in Freehold last year became among the first in the nation with eye-scanning technology to unlock doors and track who came into the schools. High schools in cities such as Camden have metal detectors to try to keep out weapons.
For other schools, officials say low-tech ideas such as making sure doors are locked are key.
Advertisement
NJ probes school safety after Amish killings
BY WAYNE PARRY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEWARK(AP) -- As an Amish community in Pennsylvania continued to mourn children slain in a school shooting earlier this week, New Jersey's governor announced today that a new task force will review the security of Garden State schools.
Gov. Jon Corzine tabbed state Homeland Security Director Richard Canas to lead the panel. Other members are to be appointed in the coming weeks.
Five Amish girls were shot to death by a school intruder in Lancaster County, Pa., earlier this week; five other girls were wounded and one was reportedly near death Friday.
Other recent school shootings have taken place in Colorado and Wisconsin.
"Given the occurrences of the past weeks, I believe it is important that we conduct a thorough evaluation of the measures in place to keep our children safe in their learning environments," Corzine said.
The governor said the task force will improve needed communication between state, county and local governments.
The task force will conduct a simulated exercise involving a crisis at a school to see how state and local officials respond and interact. Similar exercises involving a pandemic influenza outbreak and a hurricane have been held in recent months.
"With everything that's happened, it's a legitimate question that school administrators, teachers, parents, government and law enforcement should be asking: Could it happen here, and what should we be doing?" Canas said.
One of the main things the task force will be looking at is how much New Jersey's initial round of school security enhancements still need to be improved. Former Gov. Richard Codey's 2005 school safety initiative, prompted in part by the Beslan school slaughter in Russia, where 333 people died, resulted in safety audits in more than 3,350 schools across the state.
The audits identified areas where schools needed to improve their security, established standards for school safety, and required schools to update their security plans each year.
The state Education Department, Attorney General's office and state police will be part of the new group.
Once the task force has been appointed, and key local players identified, a simulated exercise will be sprung upon them, Canas said.
"It would be a (simulated) violent event like those that have occurred recently," he said. "It could be a terrorist attack, or just some wacko that decides to do something like the individual in Pennsylvania."
Security measures vary widely by school.
Schools in Freehold last year became among the first in the nation with eye-scanning technology to unlock doors and track who came into the schools. High schools in cities such as Camden have metal detectors to try to keep out weapons.
For other schools, officials say low-tech ideas such as making sure doors are locked are key.