TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Acting Westwood Regional School District Superintendent Jill Mortimer says the district now has “a clear direction from multiple groups of stakeholders,” following a survey, to proceed with the hiring of a Class II officer for duty at the regional high school, rounding out the current security roster, which includes an armed guard in the district.
The school board, she said in Jan. 3 outreach to school families, her first of 2022, “will have … discussions as to whether to institute a Class III officer [armed] in each school as part of the budget development process that will take place over the next few months.”
She told families, “Now that we are back in the swing of things, I want to update you on the District’s plan for instituting a Class II police officer and eventually Class III police officers in one or more of our schools.”
She said the board will vote Jan. 6 [just after our press time] on whether to pay the Township of Washington $25 per hour for a Class II police officer at the high school from January until the end of the year.
She also said that according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “a study of 67 averted school attack plots revealed in nearly one-third of the cases a police officer played a role in either reporting the plot or responding to a report made by someone else.”
She added, “The research on the importance of conducting threat assessments is persuasive, and I plan to create a Threat Assessment Committee in the near future.”
Mortimer said, “I realize this is an emotional topic; therefore, my letter to you presents only an overview, some preliminary data, and a timeline of events. This is my recommendation to the board based upon the activities and consultations that have transpired over the past few months.”
The K-12 district consists of its regional high school and Washington and Jessie F. George elementary schools in the township, and its regional middle school and Berkeley and Brookside elementary schools in Westwood.
In March 2021 trustees voted, 5–4, to approve spending more than $1 million to install security vestibules at each of five district schools to help prevent unauthorized access.
Voting in favor were Maureen Colombo, Andrew Gerstmyer, Roberta Hanlon, Matthew Perrapato, and Joseph Abou-Dauod.
Voting against were Michael Pontillo, Stacey Price, Frank Romano and Michelle Sembler.
(The composition of the board has since changed.)
Pontillo — also Westwood’s chief of police — criticized the vestibule, or “man trap,” proposal on introduction and at its vote, calling the $1,041,000,00 expenditure “a feel-good measure, it’s kneejerk. It’s really not going to make anyone safer.”
Meanwhile, the district is taking steps on a search for a permanent superintendent.
It’s about relationships
The Class II officer, Mortimer said Jan. 3, will be encouraged to make relationships with students and have a presence in the high school.
“I want to make it very clear that the officer will only act in his/her official capacity if a crime has been committed. There will be no unreasonable searches of students, and the high school’s administration will continue to be the lead on all disciplinary issues,” Mortimer said.
She added, “We will benefit from the officer’s ability to provide an immediate, live-feed of any emergency we may be having over the police radio.”
She said when she took over for Ray González in August, she had a “get to know you” meeting with district police chiefs Richard Skinner of the Township of Washington and Pontillo of the Borough of Westwood.
(Pontillo has said he would not participate in discussions or votes related to any school security hire he would be supervising.)
Mortimer said the agenda included general security issues and that all agreed on instituting Class III police officers “in the near future.”
At that meeting, Mortimer said, the chiefs explained the differences between School Resource Officers, Class III Officers, and Class II Officers:
- School Resource Officer: a full-time police officer with a salary and health benefits. This is the most expensive option.
- Class III Officer: a retired officer, under 65, who undergoes the same hiring process as a regular police officer. The individual has full police powers, already has full retirement health benefits, and represents a cost-effective way to provide an experienced officer for about one-third of the price of a School Resource Officer. The going rate is $35 per hour, she said. The person will be an employee of the police department, yet the chief will be receptive to any feedback the superintendent provides about the individual. The superintendent will serve on the interview committee.
- Class II Officer: these often seek full-time employment as police officers. “As such, we may have some turnover in the role, which is less than ideal. They have attended most training for a full police officer position, but often, they are younger and tend to have less experience than a SRO or Class 3.” The rate of pay is $25 per hour, she said.
Following that meeting, Mortimer said, she had a met with the board’s Finance and Facilities Committee about funding police officers at their September meeting.
Former trustee Andrew Gerstmayr reported on this discussion at the September Board of Education meeting.
On Nov. 30, Mortimer said, she and Business Administrator Keith Rosado hosted an “exploratory … how-to” meeting among the board’s president and vice president and the mayors, the police chiefs, council presidents, and the town administrators from both district municipalities, which touched on finances and everyone’s comfort with the proposal.
The officials plan to meet again “in the near future, and any necessary details from the next meeting will be reported at the appropriate time,” Mortimer said.
At its Aug. 26 meeting, the board approved the following board goals that apply to the discussion about school security, she said:
- Improve community engagement through a variety of technologies.
- Commission the administration to facilitate an external safety and security audit/study.
The survey says…
To that end, the board sent a survey to parents and district employees in early December. Mortimer said “the intent of the survey was to inform the board, not for the stakeholders to make the final decision.”
She said results indicate:
- 82.6% of parents agree/strongly agree with the statement, “The Westwood Regional School District should provide a Class III Special Law Enforcement Officer at the High School/Preschool site,” and 79.3% of district employees agree with the statement.
- 79.2% of parents agree/strongly agree with the statement, “The Westwood Regional School District should provide a Class III Special Law Enforcement Officer at the Middle School site,” and 72.6% of district employees agree with the statement.
- 68.7% of parents agree/strongly agree with the statement, “The Westwood Regional School District should provide a Class III Special Law Enforcement Officer at each Elementary School site,” and 60% of district employees agree with the statement.
“In all groups, no more than 20% disagree/strongly disagree with the statement,” Mortimer explained.
The balance of each group’s results fell under the neutral rating, she said.
“I want to point out that the district already employs a safety and security specialist, and that individual is armed. There is no plan to eliminate that position, as each district is required to have an employee serving in that role.”
She said, “A Class III officer could not hold that title.”
Moreover, she said, “We are fortunate to have police officers from both municipalities who already walk through our schools on a daily basis. The addition of officers will enable us to extend our existing security efforts, not necessarily start new ones.”
For more information, visit wwrsd.org.