After Newtown: Many Schools Have Done Nothing Despite Initial Uproar


Nearly a year after an active shooter‘s massacre of 20 young students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary, the state has allocated an additional $16 million for school security at 435 schools, bringing its total school security funding to $21 million. That total, however, ―is not a lot of money when it comes to security technology.‖ said Chris Dorn, an analyst for Safe Havens International. Dorn says it‘s the tweaking of longer-term, rather than knee-jerk, efforts that have paid off. In the first few months after the Newtown tragedy, there was a ―surge‖ in calls for increased school security. That surge included more than 450 state bills—measures to allow teachers to arm themselves or put armed guards in schools. Schools at the local level looked into bulletproof glass, more security cameras, panic buttons and other security installations. Then there were myriad calls for national gun control. ―Most schools didn‘t do anything before Newtown and are still not doing anything after Newtown,‖ said Ron Self, director of safety and security at Blytheville, Ark., Public Schools. ―I know of several schools that after Newtown said they were going to [add security measures] but never did.‖ Despite all the maneuvering from politicians and desperate requests from frightened and outraged parents, the best school security is found among those schools that have been deploying and developing their protocols for years, Dorn said. ―It‘s part of a longer- term effort, it has been well thought out.‖ Read m ore


Seeing the Toll, Schools Revise Zero Tolerance


Faced with mounting evidence that get-tough policies in schools are leading to arrest records, low academic achievement and high dropout rates that especially affect minority students, cities and school districts around the country are rethinking their approach to minor offenses. Perhaps nowhere has the shift been more pronounced than in Broward County‘s public schools. Two years ago, the school district achieved an ignominious Florida record: more students were arrested on school campuses here than in any other state district, the vast majority for misdemeanors like possessing marijuana or spraying graffiti. Rather than push children out of school using the zero tolerance policy, districts like Broward are now choosing to keep law breaking students in school, away from trouble on the streets, and offering them counseling and other assistance aimed at changing behavior. These alternative efforts are increasingly supported, sometimes even led, by state juvenile justice directors, judges and police officers. Some view the shift as politically driven and worry that the pendulum may swing too far in the other direction. Supporters, though, emphasize the flexibility in these new policies and stress that they do not apply to students who


commit felonies or pose a danger. In Broward County, the shift has shown immediate results, although it is too early to predict overall success.


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Sandy Hook One Year Later: How Much Longer Do Our Schools Have To Wait?


A year has passed and it‘s clear that the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 26 people dead – most of them young children – were still not enough to move us, as a nation, toward implementing comprehensive solutions to truly secure our 55 million K-12 students in more than 130,000 schools. Instead, we turned another disaster into a political game with our leaders trying to score points with a numbed public. Amid all the rhetoric, we lost focus and now seem willing to sit complacently until the next Sandy Hook happens. And it will.


In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, the media bombarded us with so-called experts. Were lax gun control laws the problem or were we not spending enough on mental healthcare? The debate shouldn‘t revolve around the Second Amendment or building more mental health facilities. Anything coming from those debates represents longer-term fixes. What we need is a serious discussion about the proven solutions that will work today.


It‘s time that we build a national consensus to solve this problem. The author advocates a plan he calls PTP2, which stands for planning, technology, and people and preparation. He believes the federal government should set minimal PTP2 standards for every school campus in every state.


As a nation, we‘ve often shown ourselves capable of putting aside disagreements, overcoming apathy and finding the resources to solve serious problems. We can protect our children. They deserve nothing less.


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Student Who Triggered Lockdown at Conn. University Had 2,700 Rounds of Ammo


The University of New Haven student who prompted a lockdown on campus was carrying two handguns, ammunition and what appeared to be the same type of assault rifle used by Adam Lanza in the Newtown shootings. In addition, William Dong, 22, had 2,700 rounds of ammunition at his home along with newspaper clippings about the 2012 Colorado theater shooting that left 12 dead and 70 injured. Dong, a student at the University of New Haven, was arraigned in Milford Superior Court on several charges, including


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