Wilton Second Selectman Hal Clark thinks the Board of Finance budget guidelines of a 1.75 percent increase for FY ’14-15 are too low, especially when it comes to security concerns for the town.
At last night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Clark said, “This is my ninth budget for the town of Wilton. We can’t do what we need to do and meet a 1.75 percent guideline from the Board of Finance. We can’t do it, it’s unreasonable to think that we can.”
He was specifically referencing expected costs to cover two additional security personnel being recommended by the Wilton Security Task Force to bolster school security. Clark chairs the Task Force.
Clark clarified that only one of the two new security positions would be included in the Board of Education’s proposed budget; up until now, the school Superintendent has included both in his proposed budget.
Clark told his fellow BoS members that the task force concentrated on the safety of Wilton’s schools, as the town “doesn’t have infinite resources, there’s only so much we can do, and the greatest threat is to our schools, so we’ve concentrated there to make that a truly safe environment for our kids.”
He described the recommendations that the Task Force has made after doing security analyses and study, and while he noted that the schools are in good shape, but there is room for improvement. “They’re prepared, but not as well prepared as we need to be, and that’s why we’re coming to you tonight.”
Clark said that a good defense starts with a good offense, and the strategy we’ve come up with is a good offense. “If we don’t detect these kids, somebody will get through. So you have to have the infrastructure there.”
The infrastructure begins with the personnel suggestions, according to Clark: “Our recommendation is to have a second school resource officer and we are also recommending a forensic psychologist who will be a threat assessment coordinator. We have plenty of school social workers and psychologists, and their job is to figure out how to educate these kids so they get the maximum learning experience. That’s a different skill set than somebody who’s trying to figure out where the threats are.”
When it comes to covering the costs, Clark feels it’s a choice the town will understandably approve.
“It’s our recommendation that the costs we’re talking about be put into the budgets but clearly identified, so when we go to the town meeting, we can say, ‘It’s going to cost x-number of dollars for security,’ so the town knows exactly what we’re talking about. I believe if we identify for the town what needs to be done, the town can make an intelligent decision whether to go ahead or not. I know this town pretty well, and I believe they’ll go ahead.”
Wilton Police Chief Michael Lombardo outlined the extent of the kind of work the SRO does, everything from dealing with threat deterrence, investigating social media abuse and bullying, and addressing rising mental health concerns. He lauded the current SRO, Ofc. Richard Ross, but explained the additional need for a second SRO.
“There are a multitude of situations he’s pulled into. There are about 4,600 students [Wilton Public Schools, Montessori and Our Lady of Fatima] and 800 employees, which is one-quarter of our daytime population in Wilton, and we have one SRO serving them. The number of students, with that many people, it’s impossible–he’s one person. An additional SRO would help provide augmented classroom support for drug and alcohol programs, preserve presence on campus, serve to deter and detect the possession of illegal substances and contraband on school property. But most importantly, an additional SRO would have the time to build relationships to bond with the students.”
Lombardo acknowledged the sheer benefit of image alone when it comes to police presence at the schools. “Right after the Sandy Hook shootings, we put an officer at each school for several weeks, and I can’t tell you how many parents and educators expressed their relief to us. It’s something that we need to show more of a presence in the schools. With the various schools we have in town, one officer being pulled so much at the high school is virtually impossible to do that.”
The chief noted that surrounding towns also have multiple SROs in their school district, notably Ridgefield with three, Redding with two and New Canaan with one but with another added in next year’s budget.
Clark also addressed the physical needs of the schools that need improving, saying, “There are some weaknesses in our schools, they were not built with security in mind.” As an example, he pointed out that all doors need to lock in a lockdown, but many of the classroom doors can’t be locked from the inside. “We have to harden the perimeter, make it harder for people to get into the schools. There are 47 entrances and exits at Middlebrook alone, many of them aren’t wired, nobody knows if that door is open.”
He said there is a long list of things to incorporate to improve security, but that he couldn’t elaborate without giving away security information.