Thursday, February 21, 2013
In the wake of the Newtown massacre, schools coping with upgrading security without going over the 2 percent cap may get relief from pending legislation.
In the wake of Newtown, schools everywhere are performing security audits and collaborating with local law enforcement to implement new security intitiatives. At last week's Town Hall meeting, Fort Lee Police Chief Keith Bendul and the Board of Education talked about amped up security within the Fort Lee Schools and confirmed that they are in the process of reviewing security plans within each school with the intent of putting new measures into place. In addressing the concerns of parents who want a more visible police presence at the schools, Bendul said, "We are increasing our footprint within the district" by having a more visible police presence in and around the schools. However, the question being asked by many Superintendents is how…
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Town Hall meeting partnered parents with emergency services, elected officials and members of the Board of Ed to discuss school safety.
Nearly 100 residents and parents filled the second floor meeting room at the Fort Lee Community Center during Wednesday's Town Hall meeting to discuss the safety and security of Fort Lee schools. The meeting, a response to the tragic events that happened in Newtown, Connecticut, was a collaborative effort between the Mayor and Council, emergency services and the Board of Education. The panel included: Mayor Mark Sokolich was the evening's moderator. Bendul opened the evening by assuring the audience that he, and every member of his department, is committed to the safety of Fort Lee's children and is in the process of reviewing security plans within each school with the intent of putting new measures into place. "Some of these operations we…
Friday, January 25, 2013
Mahwah hosted a County School Boards Association panel discussion Thursday night where law enforcement and school officials made security suggestions for local schools
Armed guards are definitely not the solution to school safety questions brought up after the Newtown school shooting, but there are other measures school districts in Bergen County could be taking to make schools safer. That was the message of a panel of local law enforcement and school officials who commented on school safety concerns to a group of about 150 school board representatives at a special Bergen County School Boards meeting at Mahwah High School Thursday night. “In Mahwah, we are very opposed to having armed guards in schools,” Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli, a member of the panel - which also included the chiefs of the Hackensack, Hillsdale and Dumont departments, the Superintendent of the Dumont School District, and the …
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Last week's top news stories from Fort Lee.
Officials plan to meet again this week before Mayor Mark Sokolich calls a town hall meeting on school security. In the meantime, the mayor said the borough is moving forward with a plan to place two full-time SROs in Fort Lee schools. Eight new police officers sworn-in at Thursday's Mayor and Council meeting; nine promotions. Mark Sulcov, William Chiappane and Christopher Ipek took over the duties of Fort Lee Fire Chief, Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief, respectively, on Jan. 1 and will be officially sworn in on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. The local PBA-sponsored “Drive for the Jersey Shore” took place in November and garnered donations from as far away as Wales. Last year also brought most suicide attempts, report says. A heartfelt farewell to a …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Officials plan to meet again this week before Mayor Mark Sokolich calls a town hall meeting on school security. In the meantime, the mayor said the borough is moving forward with a plan to place two full-time SROs in Fort Lee schools.
Fort Lee school officials recently met with borough and police officials and are planning another meeting this week to address school security issues, as parents, school employees and community members continued to express concern Monday. Fort Lee Board of Education member David Sarnoff, who serves on the school board’s security committee, said Monday that school officials raised a number of concerns shared by board members and the public during a roughly two-hour meeting last week. “We talked about immediate action to address security and medium- and long-range plans,” Sarnoff said at Monday’s school board meeting. “Those plans will also be in close consultation with the Fort Lee Police Department, specifically the chief and deputy chief…
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Fort Lee mayor says he scheduled a meeting about a week-and-a-half ago for Wednesday to include borough, school and police officials, and that he anticipates hiring two full-time school resource officers.
Fort Lee officials plan to meet with school and police officials Wednesday, and Mayor Mark Sokolich anticipates announcing soon after that two full-time school resource officers will be included in the next round of police hires. Sokolich said he called the meeting about a week-and-a-half ago after consulting with Fort Lee Police Chief Keith Bendul. The mandatory meeting Wednesday afternoon will include Sokolich, Bendul, Deputy Police Chief Timothy Ford, Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle and other school administrators, borough administrator Peggy Thomas and Council liaisons. “The meeting is devoted solely and exclusively to school safety,” Sokolich said, calling the likely plan to hire two additional police officers to work in …
Fort Lee High School graduate, formerly of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and now the president and founder of Safe School Technologies, presents the latest in a series of articles on gun laws.
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Tuesday, January 8
Editor's Note: The following article was submitted by Robert V. Tessaro, who recently moved back to Fort Lee after spending five years in Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. After a week of silence following the tragic massacre in Newtown, CT, National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre hosted a press conference to outline their solution to gun violence in our schools. Predictably, the NRA blamed the media, the entertainment industry, video game makers, gun-free school zones, mental health providers, hurricanes … just about everything but the lax gun laws in the United States that they have fought to weaken. According to them, there is no need to require background checks on all firearm …
Steven Engravalle said he would reach out to Fort Lee’s police chief to discuss plans for continued school security in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn., as parents expressed strong concerns Monday.
Fort Lee’s Superintendent of Schools, attending his first public school board meeting since finishing his two-month leave of absence, said Monday that school security should be a priority, especially in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn. in December, and that if he had it his way, there would be a police officer in every public school building in the Fort Lee district. Superintendent Steven Engravalle also pledged to reach out to the Chief of the Fort Lee Police Department Tuesday. The issue of security was first raised at Monday’s special business meeting by new board member David Sarnoff, who noted that committee assignments were made earlier in the evening, and that he is now on the security committee, along with …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Fort Lee’s Interim Superintendent of Schools released a holiday message on the school district’s website, also mentioning her time in the role and calling it “the most rewarding experience” of her career.
Fort Lee’s interim superintendent of schools says students in the school district have been coping with the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. in the days since the deadly shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in part by paying tribute to the victims. In a holiday message to members of the Fort Lee school community posted on the Fort Lee Public School District’s website, Interim Superintendent of Schools Sharon Amato said she has also heard “many excellent suggestions” on how school officials can improve security. She said she would take those suggestions into consideration moving forward. “The tragedy in [Newtown] has shaken us to the core; but it has also helped us come together as a …
Jack B Goode
9:35 pm on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
One thing Christie did when he got the Pension reform bill passed was to start funding the state pension fund which was about 75% short. Call him names and joke about his weight all you want, he gets things done and tells it like it is. You may not be able to put a price on bravery that protects the public while putting your own life at risk but the union negotiators do a pretty good job of … more ›