BERGEN COUNTY, N.J.—While state Department of Education guidelines to disburse nearly $350 million in state bond funding for school security projects is due soon, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office continues offering “real world” training courses to district teachers and administrators as part of ongoing efforts to implement key findings of its Safe Schools Task Force report issued last month.
No timeline was provided on when funds from the voter-approved $500 million Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act would be released—of which $350 million is dedicated to improving school security statewide.
A DOE spokesman said May 1 that the grant funding guidelines and interagency consultations to disburse $350 million in bond funds remain incomplete.
“What I said last week still stands. Unfortunately, we don’t have any concrete answers yet. We are still involved in that process. So we don’t have anything to announce yet, but we hope to have more detail soon,” said Mike Yaple, DOE’s director of public information.
“As you know, the [Securing Our Children’s Future] bond act called for funding for multiple projects. State statute contemplates an application process for all projects funded from these bond proceeds. For county vocational grants, the law says that the procedures for review and approval of the grants will be established by the Education Commissioner in consultation with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development,” emailed Yaple. “For school security projects this is to be done by the Education Commissioner in consultation with the Schools Development Authority. For the water infrastructure projects, this process is to be in consultation with the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.”
The BCPO task force report provided a roadmap for districts to evaluate, discuss and consider next steps in enhancing school security.
The 24-page report focused on issues such as mental health, private security options, schools’ mapping for first-responders, employing a mental health professional, an accreditation system for ensuring a safe school district, required school staff training, and school policy recommendations.
During a March 14 news conference, BCPO Acting Prosecutor Dennis Calo highlighted the report and stressed the importance of three training courses for school staff recommended by the task force’s training committee.
These included three separate topics focused on mental health, risk assessment and schools’ physical security; and school response to an active shooter event.
‘Training…essential’
“The [task force] considers these training modules essential for implementing Task Force recommendations,” states the report issued March 14. “It has arranged for these trainings to be given at any school which requests them. Requests for training may be made at www.bcpo.net,” notes the report.
“The [task force] recommends that all school districts mandate attendance at all three modules by all school personnel,” states the report.
Calo said in March that the task force considered training all school personnel in three specific areas critical to improving school safety. The report notes the training courses as: “Mental Health in Schools: Engaging Students and Preventing Issues of Concern”; “Facility Security: Risk Assessment and Physical Security”; and “School Personnel Response to an Active Shooter Event.”
On April 26, County Detectives’ Chief Robert Anzilotti hosted a training seminar for school administrators on active-shooter response, mostly provided by Tomahawk Strategic Solutions, a team of former military and police officials who currently train the county’s regional SWAT officers.
The late April session at Bergen Community College’s Ciccone Auditorium was well-attended and featured information on LiveSafe, a social media app to be utilized by the county prosecutor’s office and implemented countywide.
“LiveSafe [app] is a cellular-based tip reporting and two-way communication application that functions as a risk-mitigation tool,” states the report, adding that “LiveSafe eliminates student reluctance (to share information) by providing an effective and anonymous way to share their information.”
The report further notes LiveSafe can be used to report acts of bullying, illegal drug use or activity, and students who appear to be in need of intervention and counseling.
‘Critical…real-time information’
“During a [school] lockdown LiveSafe can also be used as a two-way communication device, allowing school administrators and police officials to provide critical and real-time information to teachers and students inside a school. Conversely those under lockdown can flow information out to responding emergency personnel. This type of communication is essential to an effective response,” notes the task force report.
The proprietary app will allow students, teachers, parents, and all school personnel to report anonymous tips about facility security, threatening behavior and suspicious activity to law enforcement.
The county plans to test the app in five towns before rolling it out further, Anzilotti said. It recently signed a three-year contract to use the app as a means to intervene early in potentially dangerous situations by making it easy to anonymously report suspicious, threatening or worrisome activities.
Alyssa’s Law funding?
Another effort to protect students and ensure school safety was approved earlier this year and districts await funding.
In early February, Gov. Phil Murphy signed “Alyssa’s Law,” which requires approximately 2,500 public elementary and secondary schools to install silent panic alarms that alert law enforcement to life-threatening situations should they occur in schools.
Alyssa Alhadeff, who was 14—and a former Woodcliff Lake resident—was one of 17 students and teachers killed last Feb. 14 in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The Alhadeffs lived in Woodcliff Lake from 2010 to 2014.
The shooting sparked nationwide efforts to increase school safety, including armed officers in some cases, and enhance school security by restricting access and practicing safety drills and school “lockdowns” to minimize injuries and deaths during an active-shooter situation.
The county’s Safe Schools Task Force was formed in April 2018 in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school massacre.
Under Alyssa’s Law, school districts will have the option to equip schools with an alternative emergency mechanism capable of performing similar duties as a panic alarm as long as it is approved by the state Department of Education.
The law’s cost is estimated at up to $12.5 million, with funds for implementation available from the “Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act.” This year’s May 18 Spring Blossom Fest in Woodcliff Lake will feature a ceremonial re-signing of Alyssa’s Law.
Digital maps of schools
One town initiating digital mapping of schools—hopefully over summer—is Tenafly Public Schools where a collaborative effort by the district and police department will finance the undertaking.
Tenafly Public Schools Superintendent Shauna Demarco said April 22 the work will be done by Collaborative Response Graphics and cost approximately $14,000 to complete, which will be split between the district and police department.
The digital mapping company will create digital grid-maps of both exterior and interior of schools accessed by first-responders via cellphone application, states the task force report, which recommends every district complete the mapping.
The county Prosecutor’s Office will administer the system, the report notes, and the digital mapping has been pre-approved by New Jersey School Insurance Group for purchase through an annual safety grant program.