By Dan Hust
SULLIVAN COUNTY — November 7, 2006 — State Police Captain James Boylan is worried.
The head of Sullivan County’s trooper force, Boylan said visits to area school buildings left him and his staff concerned.
“We were not happy with our observations,” he related from his Liberty office recently.
“Even in the wake of Columbine, the Amish [school shooting], I still think there are people who don’t think it can happen here.”
Boylan and several other state troopers recently paid unannounced visits to the five districts they directly provide security advice to: Roscoe, Livingston Manor, Sullivan West, Eldred and Tri-Valley (Monticello, Fallsburg and Liberty are served by their community police departments).
Although he wouldn’t name names to avoid sounding accusatory, Boylan said not every district was as secure as it could and should be.
Not all of them, for example, had buzz-in systems, where a door is kept locked until a staff member responds to a doorbell and opens it.
Some districts also had just one person to handle sign-ins, sitting alone with no visible backup.
Some, too, did not offer escorts for visitors – or even asked for ID.
Boylan has one word for it all: “complacency.”
And that’s not something he’s willing to tolerate.
“Times have changed. Parents, boards, PTOs should be asking more of our schools,” he said. “Yes, we don’t want to create prisons for our children, but we shouldn’t be thinking that way – we should be creating safe havens for our children.”
What constitutes such a haven for the State Police? At a minimum, according to Boylan: a buzz-in system (meaning all doors are locked at all times), security cameras posted at entry points, and trained safety personnel (the ideal being retired police officers) present during hours children are on school grounds.
The State Police is doing its part, with three school resource officers assigned to the districts it covers, and emergency plans are in place to detail exactly what schools should do during crises – and how police will respond.
Boylan has had the state’s Mobile Response Team assess each campus, identifying building locations, triage sites and potential landing pads for helicopters, all tied in with the Global Positioning System (GPS) for pinpoint accuracy.
Local police departments have worked with their districts and Sullivan County BOCES to offer training to school personnel, as well, and schools regularly hold emergency drills for staff and students.
But Boylan feels Sullivan County’s schools can do more.
“[Funds for security measures] should be appropriated in school budgets,” he said, lamenting the too-oft explanation by administrators that districts don’t have the money to buy such equipment and training. “That should be our #1 priority: school safety.”
One district Boylan said recognizes that fact is Tri-Valley in Grahamsville.
“They impressed me,” he remarked.
They embarrassed him, as well.
When Boylan and three other troopers stopped by Tri-Valley High School for an unscheduled visit, school officials wouldn’t let them past the sign-in desk until they showed identification.
“We went in uniform and were buzzed in,” he recalled, “and we were still asked for identification.”
To his chagrin, Boylan realized he had left his ID in his cruiser, so the blushing captain trekked back out to the parking lot to retrieve it.
Even then, the officers were issued fluorescent green name tags to wear at all times, and they were escorted by trained monitors down hallways marked with letters and into classrooms marked with numbers to clearly delineate where they were in the large complex.
“And when you left, you had to give that tag back,” he said.
“Tri-Valley is really in the forefront as far as this county goes,” Boylan concluded.
And you couldn’t find a more pleased superintendent than Tri-Valley’s Nancy George.
“It’s been a concerted effort over the last three years,” she said of the beefed-up security procedures, in particular crediting the help of Trooper Victor Pirtle.
George said staff have attended BOCES training sessions, and two monitors have been hired to guide people through the school – projecting a friendly but no-nonsense message.
“They’re not security officers,” she related. “We just want people to feel safe and comfortable when they are here.”
She laughed when told of the situation with Captain Boylan.
“We weren’t taking any chances!” she quipped.
But she isn’t really joking.
“People are much more vigilant than they have been in the past,” she remarked. “And they have to be.”
Boylan agreed, referring to the horror that happened when terrorists stormed a school in Beslan, Russia.
“Don’t think it can never happen here,” he warned. “We should all be prepared.”
Regardless, the State Police will continue to be at the ready – not only to provide safety and security, but to train districts and their communities in how to do their part.
“Luckily, nothing’s happened here yet,” he said, “but we want to be proactive.
“We’re going to keep checking on schools, and we’re going to be ever-vigilant,” he assured. “We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

By Dan Hust
SULLIVAN COUNTY — The Democrat recently undertook an extensive survey of the building security situation at Sullivan County’s eight public school districts, plus BOCES.
Every public school campus in the county was paid an unannounced visit over the past three weeks, primarily testing the security at the main entrances to each facility.
Most sites also had random side doors tested (all of which were locked), and security personnel were observed or asked to detail the normal sign-in procedure for visitors.
In all schools except BOCES’ St. John Street Education Center (which primarily offers adult classes), an ID tag, sticker or visitor’s pass was not issued until the person being visited was contacted to verify either a prior appointment or a need to see them.
Gaps in the consistency of coverage were noted at certain campuses due to student pickup/dropoff busyness, personnel shift changes, and/or assemblies open to parents. For security purposes, those gaps will not be detailed here, but districts have been notified of these issues.
While all buildings have some form of security, the most rigorous procedures and tightest security during the Democrat’s review were experienced at Monticello’s Chase Elementary School in Wurtsboro and BOCES’ White Sulphur Springs School, both of which required the reporter to produce three forms of ID.
Chase personnel, in fact, required these IDs to be shown outside the building, refusing to unlock any door until identity was established to their satisfaction.
Following is a list of campuses and their security procedures, grouped by school district (please note that the term “buzzed in” means the visitor was required to push a button and have sign-in personnel unlock a door):
BOCES
• Rubin-Pollack Campus, Ferndale-Loomis Road, Liberty: main building accessed only through unlocked front doors viewable through one-way glass by sign-in desk; must sign in at desk directly in front of doors and state destination; visitor unescorted to room but is met by personnel at destination. Side buildings are locked during the hours students are present, according to officials (confirmed by reporter only at Health Occupations building).
• St. John Street Education Center, St. John Street, Monticello: access only through unlocked door off of Bedford Avenue, viewable by sign-in desk; buzz-in system present but not active; must sign in and state destination at window inside and to the right; visitor unescorted to room.
• White Sulphur Springs School, School House Road, White Sulphur Springs: access only through one unlocked door on back of building, viewable by sign-in office; must sign in and state destination at desk to the left; visitor escorted to room.
• Youngsville Alternative School, County Route 149, Youngsville: access only through unlocked front door, viewable by sign-in desk; must sign in at office to the left and state destination; visitor escorted to room.
Eldred
• Eldred Junior/Senior High, Route 55, Eldred: access only through locked front door; must be buzzed in; must sign in at office to left of entrance and state destination; visitor unescorted to room.
• Mackenzie Elementary, County Route 32, Glen Spey: access only through unlocked front door; must announce visit at side window; buzzed in through second set of locked doors; must then sign in at main desk to right of door and state destination; visitor escorted to room.
Fallsburg
• Fallsburg Junior/Senior High, County Route 52, Fallsburg: access only through locked front or back doors, both of which lead to main lobby and are viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in; must then sign in at desk in lobby and state destination; visitor unescorted to room.
• Benjamin Cosor Elementary, County Route 53, Fallsburg: access only through one locked front door, viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in; must sign in at desk down a hallway to the left; must state destination and present identification; visitor unescorted to room.
Liberty
• Liberty High, Buckley Street, Liberty: access only through one unlocked side door near auditorium, viewable by sign-in desk; must sign in at desk to the left and state destination; visitor unescorted to room.
• Liberty Middle, Buckley Street, Liberty: access only through one unlocked front door, viewable by sign-in desk; must sign in at desk directly in front of doors and state destination; must wait at sign-in desk to be met by escort.
• Liberty Elementary, North Main Street, Liberty: access only through unlocked front doors, viewable by sign-in desk; must sign in and state destination at desk directly in front of and up stairs from doors; visitor’s stickers freely available at desk; visitor unescorted to room.
Livingston Manor
• Livingston Manor Central, School Street, Livingston Manor: access only through locked east entrance off School Street, viewable by sign-in desk and through very visible security cameras; must be buzzed in; must sign in at window to the left and state destination; visitor walks unescorted to room.
Monticello
• Monticello High, Route 42, Monticello: access through locked front and side doors, with front door viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in; must sign in at desk to right of main door and state destination; visitor escorted to room.
• Robert Kaiser Middle, Route 42, Monticello: access only through unlocked front doors, viewable by sign-in desk; must sign in at desk directly in front of doors and state destination; if going to guidance (offices are next to the front desk), simply directed there; if going anywhere else, ID sticker given after confirmation of prior appointment or need to see someone; visitor unescorted to room.
• Cooke Elementary, Richardson Avenue, Monticello: access only through locked front door, viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in; must sign in at window around a corner and to the right of entrance; visitor unescorted to room.
• Chase Elementary, South Road, Wurtsboro: access only through locked front door, viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in and state purpose of visit before entering the building; must sign in at window in lobby and state destination; must allow bag(s) to be searched; visitor escorted to room.
• Duggan Elementary, Route 55, White Lake: access only through locked front door, viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in; must sign in at office to the left of entrance and state destination; visitor unescorted to room.
• Rutherford Elementary, Atwell Lane, Monticello: access only through locked front doors, viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in; must sign in and state destination at window inside and to the right of a second set of doors; visitor unescorted to room.
Roscoe
• Roscoe Central, Academy Street, Roscoe: access only through double set of unlocked back doors, viewable by sign-in desk; must sign in at desk to right of entrance; visitor unescorted to room.
Sullivan West
• SW Elementary, Schoolhouse Road, Jeffersonville: access only through locked side doors, not directly viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in and state purpose of visit before entering; must sign in and state destination at office down hallway from entrance; visitor met at sign-in desk by the person they wish to see.
• SW High, Route 52, Lake Huntington: access only through locked front doors, viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in and state purpose of visit before entering; must sign in and state destination at office down hallway from entrance; visitor unescorted to room.
Tri-Valley
• Tri-Valley High, Route 55, Grahamsville: access only through double set of locked doors fronting side parking lot, viewable by sign-in desk; must be buzzed in; must sign in and state destination at desk to right of doors; visitor escorted to room.
• Tri-Valley Intermediate, Moore Hill Road, Grahamsville: access only through unlocked front door leading directly to sign-in office; must sign in and state destination; visitor escorted to room.
• Tri-Valley Elementary, Moore Hill Road, Grahamsville: access only through double set of locked front doors, viewable by sign-in desk; must sign in and state destination; visitor escorted to room.