Brownsville Area School Board considers security guard
BROWNSVILLE – The district’s board of directors briefly discussed “security problems” within the district’s buildings and the possibility of hiring a security guard to monitor the buildings after hours. Interim Superintendent John R. Joseph said Monday that one of his main concerns is the amount of access to school buildings after hours.
The matter follows a recent theft in the district in which someone removed three Compaq desktop computers estimated at $2,800 from the district’s administration building (Hiller Elementary School) between 4 p.m. Sept. 26 and 8:15 a.m. Oct. 3.
Joseph said the matter is still under police investigation. He said that the computers were being stored at the administration building and were not in use.
Joseph told the board, after reading the district’s security policy, that he found that there are a number of measures that can be taken to restrict the general public’s access to school buildings after hours.
Noting that the buildings are often open well after school hours to accommodate those involved in after-school activities, he said that the district’s policy provides for the right to restrict anyone not involved in after-school activities to be limited in their access to the buildings.
He said the policy also states that anyone entering the buildings can be forced to sign in after school hours. He said those “log-in” sheets can be monitored by the district’s custodians.
He said, after investigating, he found the district is not following the security policy and that there were no “log-in” sheets in use. Joseph went on to say that he has developed the sheets for sign-in purposes and is also working to develop other security measures.
Director Roseanne Markovich said that she doesn’t think anyone should be in the buildings after hours.
“We cannot have unauthorized people in the buildings after hours,” she said.
Principal Rick Gates said that there are no custodians on the first floor to monitor activity at the entrances of the high school.
Keith Harvey, the district’s building and grounds supervisor, said that he doesn’t think the district’s custodians should be burdened with security issues. He recommended that the district hire a security officer to monitor the buildings after school hours. Gates agreed.
“We can’t expect our custodians to throw anyone out,” he said.
Joseph said he is also working on other issues involving security and right now is trying to find out who in the district has keys to the buildings. Harvey said that he and Joseph are working together on possible security measures but did not want to discuss things further.
“We don’t want anyone to know what we are doing. We don’t want to tip anybody off,” he said.
The board did not discuss personnel issues Monday, but said they will name a superintendent at the regular meeting set for Thursday at 7 p.m.