District to Boost School Security with New Badge System, Cameras

The Lacey Township School District will begin boosting school security with a security badge system that the Board of Education purchased for $35,835 with a grant.

The system, which was approved at the February school board meeting, is just one school safety initiative that the district is implementing following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

“The security badge system will provide every staff member with swipe access to their respective buildings,” board President Eric Schubiger said.

The system will be installed at the front door and one additional door at each of the six school buildings in Lacey.

Staff members will be provided an identification card, which will include a photo and a barcode, coded with information that will enable access and track the access to the school buildings, Schubiger said.

The badge system is used in the three elementary schools and Mill Pond, with doors locked at each of those locations, he said.

“The security badge system will be new to the Middle School and the High School because the front doors of those buildings are currently not locked,” Schubiger said.

Doors at all schools will now be locked, he said.

The system will also include the installation of security cameras in the front entrance of the middle and high schools, he said. Visitors will be required to state the nature of their visit before granted access to each school building.

The cost of the system is $35,835, although School District Business Administrator James Savage applied for and secured $52,000 in funding through the NJ School Board’s Association Insurance Safety Grant. Funding has been utilized for security cameras, replacement of damaged sidewalks and lights along the trails between the middle school and high school.

Utilizing grant funding, the district also plans to install 10 additional bus cameras. Once that initiative is complete, every school bus in the district will be equipped with a security camera, Schubiger said.

“Furthermore, safety and security measures continue to be discussed by school representatives at every level of the school district,” Schubiger said. “The current measures being taken are the result of these discussions and our ongoing commitment to maintaining a safe and secure school district.”

At , it was stated that there is a “heightened awareness” at Lacey schools following the Connecticut shooting.

School district administration and the Board of Education will be reviewing its policies and procedures as well as developing ways to enhance the safety of the students, Superintendent Dr. Sandra Brower said.

The district is discussing the possibility of a locking vestibule in school lobbies and armed guards.

This year, each of the classrooms will be outfitted with phones that can call outside of the district. By September, each classroom will also have a protocol flip chart that outlines what to do in each emergency situation.