By Amy Senk | Corona del Mar Today
This week, work crews installed a chain-link security fence near Harbor View Elementary School’s kindergarten classrooms, part of a security measure that the school’s Parent Faculty Organization agreed to pay for days before a mass shooting at a Connecticut school.
The PFO voted in December to approve $3,400 for the fence just days before the shooting in Connecticu. Since that incident, Harbor View has locked all gates and funneled all visitors through the front office, but the kindergarten classrooms were exposed.
All schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District have been inspected and are implementing security measures, said Susan Astarita, assistant superintendent of elementary education. Astarita also oversees school safe plans and “has taken on the administrative lead regarding safety and security,” district spokeswoman Laura Boss said in an email.
Astarita spoke at Wednesday’s Corona del Mar Middle and High School PTA meeting, discussing safety measures at schools. Besides inspections of campuses, she said administrators are working with staff and parents to be more aware of surroundings and have increased the number of safety drills.
District officials also are considering smart phone apps that would call up students’ photos, schedules and other information so teachers can make sure they belong on campus, Astarita said.
Officials also are working with local police on emergency plans and security, and extra police patrols have been implemented on all campuses.
