Work Likely to Begin This Week on Newton School Security Systems

Updated 11:30 a.m.

The installation of new security systems at Newton's elementary and middle schools is likely to begin sometime this week, according to Newton school officials.

During last week's School Committee meeting, Deputy Superintendent/Chief Administrative Officer Sandy Guryan updated the committee members on the security systems, noting that the project will likely take 6-8 weeks to complete.

The systems will be installed in all 15 of Newton's elementary schools as well as all four middle schools and the Education Center, where a preschool is located. 

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According to Guryan, $346,000 of the total cost will be put toward the actual security systems and equipment while $114,000 will cover repairs and new hardware for some of the older or difficult doorways. The remaining $100,000 will cover electrical work.

Guryan said the equipment for the systems has been ordered and the work has been coordinated with the various contractors working on the project. 

As for the order in which the systems will be installed, schools with "difficult" front entries will be dealt with first, Chief Operating Officer Mike Cronin said during last week's meeting. These include schools that do not have a clear view of the front of the building.

Those "priority one" schools include Angier Elementary, Bigelow Middle, Brown Middle, Cabot Elementary, F.A. Day Middle, Memorial-Spaulding Elementary, Underwood Elementary, Ward Elementary, Williams Elementary and the Education Center according to an email from school officials.

Officials could not confirm the order in which the priority one schools would be addressed. 

While the installation process is likely to start this week, Guryan and Cronin noted that a significant amount of the work will be done during April school vacation (April 15-19). 

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The district announced its plans for the security systems in early January, just weeks after a gunman in Newtown, Conn. walked into an elementary school and killed 20 students and six adults. 

Current district policy calls for school doors to be locked during the day, except for the front (main door), which is left unlocked.

With the new systems, guests coming into the school during the day will have to be buzzed into the building from the front door. When the guest or parent buzzes at the front entrance, an image of the person at the front door will come up on computer screens in the school's main office.

Guests can communicate with a person in the front office through a speaker system at the front door, Superintendent David Fleishman told Newton Patch earlier this month.

Fleishman clarified that the schools' front doors will remain unlocked during drop-off time, but any parents or visitors coming to the school after the drop-off period will have to use the buzzer and be identified by school staff before the front door is unlocked.

School officials clarified last week to Newton Patch that although Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School already has a buzzer system, a new security system will be installed to match the new systems at the rest of the schools.