The tragic shooting deaths of 26 children and adults on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. was the driving force behind an East Meadow Board of Education meeting on Thursday night.
The inicident caused East Meadow parents a great deal of concern for the safety of their own children and Superintendent Louis DeAngelo addressed these concerns at the board meeting.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School community,” he said. “Upon hearing of this tragedy, we were in immediate contact with of our building principals on how this matter should be addressed with our children, and to reiterate our own safety practices and procedures."
He continued:
"Please be assured that this district has very detailed procedures in place to safeguard our children and staff. As a district, we will continue to be involved in an in-depth review of our procedures and practices in order to be sure that every precaution is in place.”
DeAngelo also spoke on rumors concerning possible East Meadow school safety issues being spread throughout social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, which had reached a fever pitch in the week following the Newtown shootings.
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“Please be assured that rumors of any kind, or any threat, are taken seriously and investigated diligently,” he said. “Unfortunately, in this age of social media, rumors can spread instantaneously through an entire community. Our building principals will continue to address the students on the appropriate handling of rumors and the effects of instantaneous transmission of rumors and misinformation.”
During the public comments section, DeAngelo defended his decision not to address the Newtown shootings until the following Monday, saying that the decision to do so was a well thought-out effort that was done in the best interests of the children of the district. He also reiterated to parents the fact that the district has strict safety measures in place, but declined to give details for fear of compromising their effectiveness.
In other news, Board Vice President Walter Skinner provided an update on the progress of the Board of Education in determining next year’s budget, a process sure to be difficult in light of New York State’s dwindling financial aid and a new mandatory 2 percent tax cap.
“Our 2013-2014 budget process is underway,” he said. “The board will certainly keep the community informed and will seek community input prior to its adoption in March.”
The meeting also included holiday performances of several of the district’s student musical programs, including the Bowling Green Elementary School Choir, the Woodland Middle School String Ensemble, the East Meadow High School Hand Bell Choir and the East Meadow High School Steel Drum Band. All performed renditions of classic holiday musical numbers, much to the delight of the many parents in the audience.
The next meeting of the East Meadow Board of Education is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2013 at 7 p.m.
Perhaps at the BOE meeting they should have said that the parents/ legal guardians also need to take responsibility in their childs lives so as to know what they are doing behind there backs at all time. Perhaps knowing what they do online, and what they watch on TV and what video games they enjoy.. etc.... OK I said it...
Code words? Hide kids? Place kids? Attorneys? You are what I consider a loose cannon...... Where do you think you live back in the 1950's. Shelter drills, hiding under desks. (It may be a possibility) Good call your attorneys and tell them they too are monetary leaches..... You all want to blame school procedures for a wackadoodle. They are all around and the BOE will work accordingly with experts and the local police.. Parents too need to take some of the blame when something goes wrong. You can bank on that...
I truly understand your concern. And the truth is that you should have a meeting with the principal of that second school if that is really the case. But keep in mind that no one is taking the attitude of "Won't happen here" and new security measures are being put in place in each school in our district. That there is a plan in place to put more cameras and monitors on and in the buildings. That security measures have tightened and will tighten even more. It is just that if you have a specific concern , the Principal of that individual school is the one to speak with. I know from experience that that is the first/ best step to take.
When one refers to the taxes they pay they immediately think they are owed something additional above and beyond what they have paid in tax dollars...
You stated- "you are what us in law enforcement consider an uniformed civilian that has no clue how to tactically handle an active shooter scenerio".... what us in law enforcement ???? ROTFLMAO and if you tell me you are a federal agent you are definitely a loose cannon... You are a funny man. Someone people should be scared of... Sounds like you sit outside your house with a shotgun saying "Go ahead make my day"
Sounds like you thrive on third and fourth hand information. The facts man, just the facts... You really know less than I thought.... Which prior statment that you used is correct??? hmmm "you are what us in law enforcement consider" or "yeah like i said if as a law enforcement officer"