Chief: Police Officers, Schools Ready to Protect Students, Staff

When Portsmouth students head back to class on Tuesday morning following Monday's snow day, they and their parents can rest assured they will be protected.

Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen DuBois said reaffirmed Monday night that there will be a School Resource Officer at Portsmouth Middle School and a police officer at Portsmouth High School. Police officers will also be at the city's five public schools when students arrive and depart from their respective buildings.

DuBois said police officers who patrol parts of the city where the city's three elementary schools: Little Harbor School, New Franklin School and the Mary C. Dondero School, are located will also do brief park and walks to make sure the students and staff are safe.

Earlier on Monday afternoon, Deputy Police Chief Corey MacDonald said this is what the police department was able to do within its current funding parameters in wake of the Connecticut school shootings that left 20 elementary school students and six adults dead.

DuBois said he began having discussions with Portsmouth Schools Superintendent Ed McDonough on Friday night and they will continue to be in contact with one another. When asked how long the police department will carry out this current security plan, DuBois could not say.

"It's a reactive move to what happened," he said.

DuBois said the police do extensive training for school lock down situations and will certainly respond as quickly as possible to any emergency that may arise at any of the city's schools. But the likelihood of being able to get additional funding from the City Council to pay for additional SROs is not that good given the budget constraints the city is already facing, he said.

DuBois said the community has every right to be concerned about the school shootings that took place in Newtown, Conn., on Friday and the threat of potential copy cats always exists. "It could happen anywhere," he said.

Police and school officials are hoping the extra police presence at and around the city's five public schools will serve as a sufficient deterrent.