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Public Forum Will
Focus on School Safety

By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
6/17/10
Town and school officials will hold a public forum in response to a string of recent scares in the schools, including a situation last week at Pierce Middle School in which a student was suspected of having brought a gun inside the building.

According to School Superintendent Mary Gormley, the School Committee wants to hold a joint meeting with Selectmen to discuss school security. Gormley did not indicate what measures may be taken or when the meeting would occur.

Despite the recent events – including the June 9 situation at Pierce – Gormley said families should not be afraid to bring their children to school.

“The Milton public schools are safe. Safety is our first priority,” she said. “I wish these things didn’t happen. I’m really sorry the students have to go through this.”

Police Chief Richard Wells Jr. said the recent incidents are not changing his philosophy of how school safety is implemented.

He stressed that it is important to continue to foster healthy communication within classrooms.

“I know there are people out there who want to say that the schools are not safe, but they are,” he said. “We wanted the staff to realize how important a role they play each day in the lives of the kids. Milton has great schools and great kids, but we do live in a society today where deviance does exist and there are many issues.”

Gormley said parents have a role in staying vigilant and keeping an open line of communication with their children.

During the incident at Pierce, the middle school was placed in lockdown for nearly two hours beginning at 1 p.m. According to Wells, police were notified by staff at Pierce that a student might be in possession of a gun.

A 15-year-old student, who is not identified, was arrested and turned over to the state Department of Youth Services. He was arraigned as a juvenile in Quincy District Court for disorderly conduct and making threats to harm, Wells said.

A search of the school did not turn up a weapon, according to the chief.

“The suspect was located quickly. He was immediately belligerent toward the officers and threatening. He quickly became combative and had to be taken into custody,” he said.

During the lockdown, a search of the school involved Milton police aided by ballistic K-9 units from Boston, Brockton and Quincy, and additional units from Canton and Randolph, Wells said.

“Based on all of the info we had, two searches took place. One involved the outside perimeter of the school and a second involved a section of lockers inside,” said Wells, adding that a search of students did not occur.

He said the suspect was known to police for acting out but had never previously made mention of having access to a weapon. He said a professional support staff was already working with the student.

Wells said an investigation led police to the conclusion the suspect did not have a real gun but “may have been alluding to others he had a real weapon.”

Gormley sent an e-mail blast to parents around 3 p.m. informing them that a suspect had been taken into custody and that “at no time were students or staff in jeopardy.”

In a subsequent interview, Gormley said the response by authorities to the incident was “phenomenal,” as a situation that could have caused panic was handled calmly and with compassion for students and staff.

“From the chief right down to every single man and woman he has working for him, they just set a tone of calm. It is unbelievable,” she said.

Gormley added that she will visit the school and talk to students to let them know they are safe.

The event marks the fifth time that police have been summoned during the school year. In March, Milton High School was placed in lockdown after a parent found a 12-gauge shotgun shell outside the building. Then, during the same week in April, police were called twice to the school when ammo was found inside the building. A 14-year-old student believed to be responsible for one of the incidents – in which several rounds were discovered in a stairwell – was taken into custody and charged as a juvenile.

In May, a student discovered a bullet on the floor of a school bus filled with Milton track students. Police said the bus had served many communities that day and the bullet could have come from anywhere.

No weapons were found during any of the incidents.

School officials are pursuing the purchase of surveillance cameras to be installed throughout the high school campus. According to estimates, it may cost up to $200,000 to install the cameras, and school officials are pursuing possible donors to fund the project. Four donors have been asked to donate $50,000 each, according to School Committee Chair Lynda-Lee Sheridan. The School Building Committee has voted to allocate the amount, but the Warrant Committee voted against it.

Committee Chair Tom Hurley said the committee voted in May to approve a $152,000 reserve-fund transfer request to cover School Department special-education costs, but not to allocate an additional $50,000 for the cameras.

“The committee at the time did not feel that there would be enough money in the reserve fund to fund both requests,” Hurley said in an e-mail. “[We] also felt that this type of expenditure was more capital in nature than operating and as such should be considered in a borrowing article.”