Pittsfield School Committee Reacts to Herberg Gun Situation
 The School Committee praised the response of school staff but also called for a closer look at security policies. |
The committee said the Herberg community followed procedures to a T, but expressed concern that the student was able to get the weapon into the school in the first place.
"Having something real and very public in our back yard was shocking to say the least," said committee member Joshua Cutler. "This is a situation we all have zero tolerance for and never want to see happen again."
Superintendent Jason McCandless told the committee that policies throughout the district are being looked at to decrease the chances of a student bringing a weapon to school. Those policies include improving communications, backpack usage, and restrictions on baggy clothing. All of those changes would need School Committee approval.
"We are continuing to revisit all of our school and district safety plans, our procedures and our plans," McCandless said.
Another such change would be to help staff understand the seriousness of a situation. Currently, there are "shelter in place" and "lockdowns." But McCandless said Reid Middle School has extra verbiage to let staff know the level of seriousness.
"We are revisiting the way we reword some of our drills," McCandless said.
McCandless was particularly happy with the way the 650 Herberg students reacted during the situation.
"They did what they were told to do when they were told to do it in the appropriate fashion," McCandless said.
Committee member Anthony Reillo, also the city's former police chief, said the reaction "went by the rules." He also credited McCandless' honesty in addressing the parents that Friday night at a community meeting.
One change the district is not looking at is metal detectors. Member Cynthia Taylor said research shows metal detectors are not effective and gives a "false sense of security."
What has risen to the top of conversation, which grew out of Tuesday's City Council meeting, was the concept of bringing back an alternative school.
"I think out of this incident, and other things we've been considering, will come a discussion of alternative ed," said Chairwoman Katherine Yon.
She said the School Committee, administrators, and the city will have to take a close look at what it will take to bring back the former Hibbard School, which closed in 2009.
Member Daniel Elias said if the city does bring it back, it needs to look drastically different than it did before. He said it had turned into a "dumping ground" and students had little chance of succeeding.
"In that kind of structure, it was an impossible task," Elias said. "For me, it has to look a whole lot different that it used to look."
McCandless wasn't working for the city when the school was operating but assured that if an alternative school is brought back, the structure will be that to help those students handled both academic and personal issues. As it stands now, the department has some alternative school programs but McCandless said they are "sporadic" and would be more impactful if housed all together as part of a larger concept.
"Alternative schools serve several purposes. One of the purposes we must ensure is that it helps move the students in the alternative school further in school and in life."
Elias also criticized McCandless' work in releasing information to the public. A release from McCandless sent to the media through Mayor Daniel Bianchi's office stated the weapon was not loaded but that there were bullets with it. Shortly afterward, District Attorney David Capeless blasted city and school officials for releasing that statement, saying the weapon was indeed loaded. McCandless corrected the information later.
"Any time there is nonfactual information going out, that is not good," Elias said, calling for releases to be done with school administrators, police, and city administrators in a joint fashion.
Tags: guns, Pittsfield School Committee, school safety, youth violence,
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