The Phoenicia Elementary School held an unscheduled lockdown on June 1. Gordon Norton, a 21-year-old Woodstock resident, had breached the school parking lot in an attempt to evade police after he got into an argument in Phoenicia. He had taken off in his car, had parked it on the school grounds, and had run from his vehicle into the wooded area behind the elementary school.
Sheriff Juan Figueroa said there had been another recent incident at the school. A car driving on Main Street in Phoenicia with a muffler problem had sought refuge on school grounds, the sheriff said. It was determined that the driver had friends on the area.
Police called to the school on the morning of June 1 included the Olive and Shandaken police departments as well as members of the state police, sheriff’s department and the New York City environmental protection police.
The principal of the Phoenicia School 25 years ago, Randy Collins, wanted the school to be a part of the community, not an educational bureaucracy. Parents didn’t have to make an appointment to see Collins. He welcomed them to come in to see him whenever he was there.
Things are different now.
All the Onteora schools have eight fire drills and four practice lockdowns a year. Today, the outside doors at the Phoenicia School are locked during class time. The school houses about 135 students from kindergarten through the third grade.
“We want to keep the kids safe,” explained Onteora schools superintendent Victoria McLaren, recently back in the position she had held before resigning in May 2021. Introducing the younger students to why lockdowns are necessary raises their awareness of the need for school security,” said McLaren. “They understand why we’re doing these things.”
McLaren credits “our incredible staff” for the protection they provide. She also singled out Tom Sharon, the district’s school resource officer provided under contract by the sheriff’s office. He’s played an important role in helping the schools follow best practices when it comes to student safety.
Figueroa too praised Sharon, who as a detective in the sheriff’s department took a major pay cut to become the school district’s resource officer. Sharon had attended the district schools himself and had four children at Onteora.
The safety plan
A new edition of the district’s safety plan was adopted at the school board’s regular meeting last week. It’s striking how much attention the district’s safety plan pays to the possibilities of what’s termed “civil disturbances” – a classification of harrowing possibilities including bomb threats, intruder alerts, hostage-taking, kidnapping, and “physical assault or threat to self or others.”
Emergency planning “develops appropriate procedures for identifying unauthorized visitors and intruders.” Here’s what’s in the safety plan as far as intruders are concerned:
It’s the job of the first person on the scene to identify a suspected intruder. After notifying the building administrator, that person confronts the intruder or unauthorized visitor and asks for identification. The intruder is then escorted out of the building.
If the intruder refuses to leave, the instruction is to call 911 and maintain surveillance. If warranted, the staff is notified that the appropriate protocol is in effect. When law enforcement arrives, the staff “follows instructions, and provides any necessary assistance.” Finally, the emergency is terminated upon recommendation from law enforcement, and normal operations resume or the building is closed.
Each Onteora school has a building-specific plan not available to the general public for security reasons.
“You go in right away”
Sheriff Figueroa said on Monday afternoon that he had not yet read the bipartisan limited gun control measure agreed to in principle over the past weekend by ten Republican and ten Democratic senators. But he thought the fact of a bipartisan agreement was a big step forward. “We’re heading in the right direction,” he said. People are demanding immediate action.
Figueroa has said on many occasions that his prime concern is the safety of his officers. But he said that despite the risks involved his law enforcement officers were trained to enter school premises where a civil disturbance was taking place immediately.
“You go in right away,” he said. “That’s what we train them to do.”
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