New School Security Measures: Visitor IDs, Police Patrols

As part of a continuing effort to update school security measures at Somerset Hills schools, visitors to the Somerset Hills School District starting this month may be asked to show photo identification upon arrival, along with signing in at the main office, Schools Superintendent Peter Miller has announced.  

Miller also posted a reminder that on the school website and in regular s a reminder, all visitors are required sign in at the main office, state the purpose of their visit, wear a visitor's badge, sign out, and return the visitor's badge when leaving.

"I appreciate your cooperation as we work together to keep our school community safe," Miller said on the Somerset Hills school district website, and in Friday Folder announcements sent out to parents and the community.

At Wednesday night's school board meeting, Miller said that the transition had gone smoothly and he had received only positive feedback on the measure.

Police patrols increased

Miller said in a special Friday Folder email last week that police patrols each day have been increased around the perimeter of the district's three schools. "Officers conduct daily random walk-throughs of the interiors," he said, specifying that school officials have been working in cooperation with police from all four of the communities that send students to the Somerset Hills school district.

"As you know, school safety and security is and has always been a priority in the Somerset Hills School District," Miller said in the Friday Folder email.

As at other school districts that have been reviewing their security measures since December's school shooting in Newtown, Ct., Miller wrote that he recently has been meeting to discuss school security with the Board of Education, the administrative team in the district's three schools, other New Jersey superintendents, security experts and law enforcement agencies.

In the announcement, he said he wanted to share some additional information resulting from those meetings. "Please understand that some security measures must be kept confidential for them to be effective; however, I will share information about our procedures whenever possible."

Review and enhancements to security will continue

As he has said said the school district will continue to focus on any additional enhancements to the existing security protocol already in place in Somerset Hills schools. "Please be assured that the safety of our school community remains our highest priority," he wrote.

He outlined some existing and updated security measures as:

• Each school has a very detailed School Safety and Security Manual, which contains the most recent directives from the New Jersey Department of Education. The manuals were written with the assistance from local, county and state law enforcement agencies. Each manual was updated this fall and reviewed for compliance.
• All administrators and staff receive training each year on the implementation of our security procedures.
• Two safety and security drills are conducted monthly while the students are at each school. These drills follow very detailed state guidelines and are monitored by law enforcement personnel.
• Each school has a School Emergency Response Team, he said. Team members have gone through extensive training provided by a variety of law enforcement agencies. Although these teams are not a requirement, they were established several years ago in an effort to enhance our security.
• The district has established an excellent relationship with the four police departments that make up the schools' regional district, which include Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peapack-Gladstone and Bedminster Township.
• The district employs a fulltime school security officer who is a retired officer from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.
• Emergency communication systems enable administrators and staff members to communicate within each school, between schools, to all schools/offices at once and directly with the police and local emergency responders.
• Each school is equipped with electronic "buzz in" systems with video surveillance.
• All visitors must sign in, provide photo identification, state the purpose of the visit and sign out. A visitor log is maintained at each school.
• All exterior doors are locked throughout the day and routine checks are conducted.
• Law enforcement and emergency responders can be rapidly notified and have full access to our facilities.
• Electronic surveillance systems are in place.
• Rapid parent notification systems are in place both in-house and from remote locations.