The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
School board adds security to its meetings
Downingtown Area decision follows shootings elsewhere
Sunday, February 6, 2011
By ERIC S. SMITH, Staff Writer
UWCHLAN — The Downingtown Area School District will have a security presence at its board meetings beginning Wednesday, according to district officials.
Superintendent Lawrence Mussoline said the decision to have security at the meetings came after the recent shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Gifford at an event in Tuscon, Ariz., as well the shooting last December in Florida at a school board meeting. Fourteen other people besides Gifford were wounded and six killed in the Arizona incident. The shooter killed himself and no one else was injured in Florida.
"Whether it's the economy or a sign of the times, there seems to be a negative sentiment against public officials when taxpayer money is concerned," Mussoline said in a recent interview. "It can be a rather negative incident."
Mussoline said the district wants to protect the public, the board, students and staff at the meetings. The district will contract Downingtown Police to provide security at the regular board meetings at the administrative building in East Caln.
No decision was made about adding security at committee meetings. The school board's finance, facilities and technology committees meet at a different school in the district each month, so security would have to be coordinated with the various police departments.
Downingtown Police Chief James McGowan said the current rate for all security the department provides for the district, including at sporting events, is $75 per hour, but he said that could increase soon.
McGowan said other police chiefs in the county have been contacted by their school districts to begin evaluating if security is necessary at public meetings.
McGowan said the district makes controversial decisions and has to protect everyone it can. He said it only takes one incident for everything to go wrong.
"They are between a terrible rock and a hard spot," McGowan said. "If they don't respond, you'll have a lot of armchair quarterbacks asking why they didn't. If they're proactive, some people will ask why we need this."
Board member Thomas Ost-Prisco, who also serves as an assistant district attorney for Chester County, was the first member to bring up the issue of having security at the the meetings.
"As an elected member of the Downingtown School Board, I believe we have an obligation to ensure the safety of not only the board and the school district employees, but also every member of the public who attends our meetings," Ost-Prisco said in a written statement. "Unfortunately, recent events in Arizona and Florida have shown that public officials may be targeted for violence without any warning, and members of the public may be put in harm's way as a result."
Ost-Prisco acknowledged that his profession can put him in some precarious positions.
"As an assistant district attorney for Chester County, I am aware of past incidents when members of our office have received threats in response to our work to protect the public," Ost-Prisco said. "While I have no immediate concerns for my personal safety I believe it is prudent, given recent events, to take steps to protect everyone who attends a public school board meeting."
To contact staff writer Eric S. Smith, send an e-mail to esmith@dailylocal.com.
URL: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2011/02/06/news/srv0000010848510.prt
© 2011 dailylocal.com, a Journal Register Property
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