At a particularly well-attended school board meeting on Tuesday, board members listened to four proposals for increased school security presented by Hillsborough County School Superintendent MaryEllen Elia. The proposals included hiring outside security expert Michael Dorn for $8,500, securing access points around schools, hiring more student resource officers, and training students and faculty in crisis management.
Members of the community weighed in on the proposals, voicing concerns about young children being around armed guards, and about the hiring of private corporations to provide security. Local elementary school principals in attendance voiced their support for the measure.
When it came time for the board to debate the measures, the high price tags associated with some of the proposals bothered the members. (The four measures were originally lumped into one large bill, which the board then split into individual actions.)
In the end, only the $8,500 to hire an outside security expert was approved, mainly due to it's relatively small price tag and the fact that the board saw it as absolutely necessary.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2013.