Delay in Worcester’s School Safety Audit Raises Concerns of Timing and Transparency

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Reporter

Last Spring, Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Dr.Melinda Boone announced a proposed safety audit following numerous safety issues at some of the city’s secondary schools.

A string of violence at Worcester’s high schools last school year resulted in nearly 50 school employees being assaulted, 40 incidents of weapons being used in a school, and 36 students were assaulted.

At the August 20 school committee meeting Dr. Boone announced that a request for proposal (RFP) on a school safety audit has been publicly posted for bidding.

When Can City Expect Safety Audit?

City officials told GoLocal that the audit will likely show the need for enhanced wireless communications, outdoor panic devices, projectile-resistant glass, and secure classroom locksets.

According to School Committee member Brian O’Connell, the school committee has yet to be made aware of how the bidding for the safety audit contract is proceeding.

Multiple requests from GoLocal to the Superintendent’s office for an update on the safety audit went unfulfilled.

"A school administration is always well-advised to share pertinent information with the public, which ultimately employs it and pays its salaries, costs and expenses. When it does so, it generates both respect and trust. Properly, it should see the media as a means of educating the public as to its activities, programs, and goals. Good relations with the media, ready and rapid responses to media inquiries,and a practice of full, timely, and precise disclosure of school system news and developments, are vital for an administration which knows, and appreciates, its responsibility to inform the public. The School Committee can, and should, insist on this," said O'Connell

On Monday, O’Connell filed a request for an update on progress made in the school security audit. The item will be present on the school committee’s October 15 agenda.

City Councilor Blasts School Administration

“While it is unacceptable that an audit that was promised in March to be completed by the Fall has just gone out for bid, it also shows an unfortunate lack of leadership in our elected officials and very highly paid school administration that they must rely on a third party to assess the safety problems at our schools,” said City Councilor Michael Gaffney.

Gaffney is running for Mayor against incumbent Joe Petty who serves as the head of the school committee.

The announcement that more police officers would be placed in Worcester’s secondary schools came from Petty’s office just days before school started.

“It is also unacceptable that this school administration continues to demonstrate a lack of transparency by not responding to inquiries about safety in our schools particularly after the lack of transparency shown regarding recent incidents,” Gaffney added.