Poland school board discusses security

POLAND — School safety is the focus of tonight’s school board meeting.

Dozens of people turned out for the meeting, with public comments focusing on questions related to school safety and preparedness in case of an emergency such as a school shooting.

District officials also gave a presentation on the topic. District Operations Director Ken Ekis and School Resource Officer Steve Kent outlined the district’s efforts to keep students safe.

Superintendent David Janofa dispelled rumors he said have circulated in the community about his opinion on ALICE, an active-shooter training program.

ALICE is an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

Janofa said he is not opposed to ALICE, but is opposed to one aspect of the training that says students should confront an active shooter.

“As a superintendent, I don’t care what [the] training [is], I am not in favor of that,” Janofa said.

Several commenters raised concerns about the security in place at school entrances, saying there are many instances of people being admitted into the schools with no scrutiny.

Janofa called that “unacceptable” and promised to address it in each school Tuesday.