BROADALBIN, N.Y. - The Broadalbin-Perth School District, like many, started receiving calls from
parents and community members immediately after the horrific school shooting in
Connecticut. Many of the calls coming in had a lot of the same ideas, so the
school district set up a meeting where they could hear out everyone at
once.
After an outpouring of concerned parents and community members
voiced concern over the Newtown shooting, more than 100 people including
parents, students, faculty and the school board, showed up to help the
Broadalbin-Perth School District become a safer place.
Michele Kelley,
the District Communications Specialist says, "We actually received a list of
about a dozen ideas from a district parent who is also a police officer, so
those were very interesting and the board is taking all of them into
consideration."
The School District says these conversations are not easy
to have, and striking a balance between safety, and a school-like atmosphere is
not done quickly.
Aaron Fonda, a senior at Broadalbin-Perth says,
"There has been a lot of scares around here, and it has effected some people
personally, mentally, and some people don't feel safe coming to the school. And
so I like to think of what the school could do about this."
Stephen
Tomlinson, the District Superintendent says, "There's a fine line between
turning our buildings into a prison-like atmosphere and keeping them as
education institutions for our students. Certainly our students don't want to
be walking hallways of a school where all they're looking at is brick and
mortar. So the board of education has some decisions to make as to just how far
we are willing to go in keeping our children safe."
After going over a
list of safety measures the school already has in place, the floor opened to any
comments, questions, or suggestions. Everyone got involved in the conversation,
with one local dad saying, "The ideas and suggestions are wonderful, to protect
from people from the outside, they're not going to protect from
within."
Tomlinson wants people to know he, too, feels emotional about
the situation at hand, "My daughter is in first grade, so Sandy Hook hit, hit
home with most of the victims first grade students. So the decisions that I
will bring to the board of education and the recommendations I will bring to the
board of education, are not only in the best interest of what I believe would be
good for the community, but also my wife and my daughter in 1st
grade."
The School District plans on implementing new safety features
immediately if possible, though some ideas will require more time and budget
considerations. Their biggest concern will remain finding a balance between
keeping the kids safe, and keeping the kids happy in their school atmosphere.
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