After months of public meetings, debate, and community discussions, the East Lyme Board of Education officially approved plans to arm security officers across the district.
Now, district officials are beginning the next phase: figuring out exactly what implementation will look like before the start of the next school year.
According to Board of Education Chairman Eric Bauman and Head of Security and retired police officer Donald Hull, the district is still finalizing details, but the current goal is to place at least one armed security officer in each school building.
“We’re down to several different ideas of how we’re going to implement that,” Mr. Hull said.
The district’s model will rely on Armed Security Officers (ASOs), in addition to School Resource Officers (SROs). ASOs are retired law enforcement officers and do not have arrest power inside schools.
Mr. Hull said the purpose of arming security is not intimidation, but presence in the event of a serious emergency.
“It’s a response,” Mr. Hull said. “Fire extinguishers don’t stop fires from starting, but if a fire does start, you’re glad
they’re there.”
The district also plans to require additional training for armed security officers, including de-escalation training (a set of behavioral strategies meant to slow down tense situations), school-based safety training, and instruction related to working with students with disabilities and mental health concerns. Mr. Hull said newly armed officers will also complete annual firearm training with the East Lyme Police Department.
Safety precautions are also being built into the implementation process. Mr. Hull explained that officers would use a three-step procedure to unlock and remove a weapon.
“There’s no reason other than a serious accident for that weapon to leave its holster,” Mr. Hull said.
One major concern raised during the public meeting was regarding the financial impact of the decision. The cost of
arming security will be $63,200 according to a statement made by Mr. Bauman at the Board of Finance public hearing on April 27.
“We’re not talking about creating entirely new salaries,” Mr. Hull said. “We’re adding to positions that already exist.”
Some current security officers may not qualify to carry firearms under state guidelines because they previously worked in corrections rather than law enforcement. Mr. Hull said some staffing decisions are still being worked through as plans continue developing, however, according to Mr. Hull and Mr. Bauman, only previous members of law enforcement will qualify to carry weapons.
Another concern raised by community members regarded anxiety among students surrounding the presence of firearms in the schools. Mr. Hull said most students he has spoken with throughout the process expressed support for the decision.
Mr. Bauman said how difficult the decision was, but the Board of Education “spent months having discussions and trying to figure out what the best path forward was,” Mr. Bauman said.
“It wasn’t easy. In the end, we had more feedback in favor than we did against. That was part of helping us make our decision. We have personal opinions, but we represent our community, so we need to also consider that when we vote,” Mr. Bauman said.
Mr. Hull also pointed to all of the relationships students already have with school security staff, especially because several members of the security team previously worked in East Lyme schools as officers or SROs.
“For nine years, I was in these schools every day and I was armed as a police officer,” Hull said.
Questions were also raised during the public meeting about communication between the district and local law enforcement. Mr. Hull said district officials met several times with East Lyme police leaders and town officials throughout the process.
“We met with the chief of police, the first selectman, and town officials multiple times,” Mr. Hull said.
The decision was made after roughly seven months of research and discussion by the Board of Education, including public forums, presentations, and reviewing studies and policies from other districts across CT.
“If you look at surrounding towns, Waterford has a mix of ASOs and SROs, Montville has a mix of AROs and SROs,
and Lyme-Old Lyme has ASOs. So, when you look at surrounding towns, not only does everyone have at least one, many of them have more than one,” Mr. Bauman said.
While some implementation details are still being finalized, district officials say the focus remains on balancing school safety with maintaining the positive relationships students already have with the school security staff.
