Police officers to be present in all Union Schools in September

In a message home to parents, Superintendent of Schools Scott Taylor said new security initiatives will be in place in the new school year including placing officers in all Union schools, a new crisis alert sys- tem, and creation of threat assessment teams.

“The safety, security, and well-being of all students and staff in our schools is the foremost priority of our district,” said Taylor in his letter. He said while there are many security initiatives to reveal, “there are many that cannot be shared as the very exposure or discussion of which may pose a threat to the district.” Taylor said a district-wide audit and threat assessment was completed and the district has begun implementing changes to “physical plant, policies and personnel in line with recommendations.”

One of the initiatives, Taylor said, places police officers in all of Union’s elementary and middle schools in addition to the School Resource Officers who will be placed in the two middle schools. The police officers are Special Law Enforcement Officers Class 3 (SLEO 3s). These officers receive special training and are hired specifically to protect schools.

The district has established an anonymous tip line to be monitored by the police department.

The school district will also be installing an alert system called Sielox CLASS Crisis Lockdown Alert Status System, Taylor said. Features of the system include panic buttons within the offices of each school that alert police dispatch and trigger strobe lights to indicate an emergency, a geofence around all school properties that triggers alerts to police dispatch and school personnel any time 9-1-1 is dialed from any phone, communication among staff and teachers during crises situations, geo-mapping of said calls so the exact location of the call is known to first responders, and other features to assist first responders in responding to an incident.

The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has said the new law requiring districts to create threat assessment teams takes effect for the 2023-2024 school year.