Officers will begin patrolling Williamsburg-James City County’s elementary schools next week in an effort to enhance security.
Parents of WJCC elementary school students received letters Feb. 13 outlining the plan to incorporate more security at school. The heightened presence of policemen comes following a school safety audit that began after a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. last December.
Uniformed officers with the City of Williamsburg and James City County police departments will check the exterior of the division’s nine elementary schools over the course of the school day. They will also begin foot patrols inside the schools, walking down the hallways, checking in with school staff, interacting with students and occasionally eating lunch in the school cafeterias.
The policemen will not be assigned School Resource Officers, which currently work in Toano Middle School, Hornsby Middle School, Lafayette High School, Jamestown High School and Warhill High School. The city of Williamsburg assigned a full-time School Resource Officer to Berkeley Middle School in September 2012. WJCC spokesperson Betsy Overkamp-Smith said the increased patrol does not require additional funding.
Williamsburg officers have always included elementary schools in their patrols, but they will be more visible now, said Major Greg Riley of the Williamsburg Police Department.
This month, WJCC’s Safety Committee will also make recommendations for additional steps to enhance security. Since the Newtown shootings, school representatives, first responder agencies and employees in the transportation, operations and central office departments have been reviewing the division’s practices.
At the School Board’s Jan. 8 meeting, Superintendent Steve Constantino outlined how the division had started to evaluate its safety measures. He said WJCC already planned to install magnetic locks on exit doors in schools undergoing renovation projects, but now the division has decided to speed up the installation of the locks in all of its schools. A current producing a magnetic field prevents doors with magnetic locks from being opened from the outside without key cards.
In January, Stonehouse Elementary piloted use of a buzzer system, requiring office workers to check a security camera before granting entry to visitors. The system is used throughout York County schools. Constantino said the division would likely install the systems in elementary schools, followed by secondary schools.
In addition, the school division plans to strengthen check-in procedures. In his letter to parents, Constantino asked that they be sure to check in at the front office any time they visit school. “Signing in helps school staff know the purpose and destination of your visit, and wearing a visitor badge and signing out helps our staff keep track of visitors within the building,” he wrote.
“Together, we want to make our elementary school environments welcoming, nurturing and conducive to learning,” he said. “We do not intend to alarm students or discourage parents from visiting our classrooms. We do, however, intend to do everything we can to help ensure the safety of our students and staff.”
The General Assembly is currently reviewing eight pieces of legislation related to school safety, all proposed by Gov. Bob McDonnell. The proposals were initial suggestions from the School Safety Taskforce, which assembled in January. Read more about the legislation here.
