NORWALK, Conn. – Progress is being made to beef up the security at Norwalk’s schools, Board of Education member Artie Kassimis said Tuesday night.
The school safety committee met last week, he said. Norwalk Police are continuing to survey the schools looking for “different nuances” as they study security issues, he said; Marvin and Cranbury elementary schools were visited last week. An emergency plan that takes into account the capabilities of different age levels has been developed, allowing for more help from teachers for elementary school students and more independence from high school kids.
The committee has talked of numbering doorways at the schools so they can direct first responders more efficiently in the event of an emergency. Kassimis said a standard numbering system has been developed, meaning that each school will be numbered by the same pattern, so that firefighters and police officers will know where they are going, no matter where in the city they are.
Committee members have studied scenarios in different categories: man-made disasters, natural disasters and hazardous materials situations.
Interim Superintendent Tony Daddona said safety is a team effort. He thanked the “vigilant” Norwalk High School student who saw Facebook posts threatening the lives of two people at the school and alerted authorities, leading to the arrest of another student Sunday.
“If it wasn’t for that vigilance, we don’t know what would have happened,” he said. “It’s very important that everyone looks at school safety, to look at it as a team. … It not the principals’ responsibility but it is all of our responsibility.”
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