Security Remains Priority for Guilford Board of Ed

At a recent Board of Finance meeting, which led to the passing of both the town and Board of Education budgets for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, bonding projects for Guilford schools were also passed. With the approval of the $54 million Board of Ed budget, bonding requests totalling $1,623,677 were also approved.

Those dollars will be used in a variety of projects at existing Guilford schools. One major project the board plans to tackle is security upgrades. 

"This will allow us to have greater control of them," said Superintendent Paul Freeman. "We will be targeting the entrances of every school, repositioning cameras if necessary, looking at the glass and doors at the front of the schools, 

Freeman also emphasized that Guilford has taken several budget neutral steps to increase security at schools. "We've also increased our relationship with the police department, and they have been much more visible at our schools," Freeman continued. "I get a weekly report on security, and none of these steps have increased our budget."

Additionally, these bonding dollars will be put towards replacing all the doors and windows at AW Cox Elementary School.

"This will increase the energy efficiency at Cox, which will save us in the long term," added Bill Bloss, chairman of the Board of Ed.

Over at Adams, some old wiring will be replaced. Also, some cracked sidewalks will be upgrade, in addition to phone page systems at one of the schools, which is close to 20 years old will also be upgraded. 

Next, the budget will head to a referendum on April 9 after a public town meeting April 2 on the proposal.

For details on the budget, check out some of Guilford Patch's coverage of this year's budget meetings:

• Proposed Board of Selectman Budget Comes in at 1.96% Increase
• Proposed Board of Ed Budget "Moves Us Boldly Forward," says Superintendent
• Guilford Could See Raising of Several Coastal Roads in Town
• Guilford Board of Selectman Sends Proposed Town Budget to Board of Finance
• All-Day Kindergarten Not in Proposed BOE Budget