In the wake of recent national tragedies and an upsurge in concealed gun permits in the city, Westbrook schools are assessing their policies to make sure everyone inside the buildings feels safe.

The Westbrook School Committee Policy Committee will meet on Monday, Jan. 28, to review procedures and concerns brought up by the public following the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut.

“We want the kids to feel safe. We don’t want to be at the level where they’re afraid of everybody, but they need to be aware,” said Suzanne Salisbury, school committee vice chairwoman and policy committee member. “As a parent, when your kids are young and you’re teaching them about strangers, you don’t want to make them afraid to leave the house. You just want them to be safe. Our goal is to make kids feel safe in school.”

In the beginning of January, the School Committee hosted an open forum for parents to discuss their safety concerns. From that meeting, and as part of the three-year review cycle, policies like a lockdown drill schedule and handling visitors inside the buildings are being reviewed.

“Fire drills are second nature, they’ve had them since they were little, but lockdown drills can still feel scary, especially with events that happened,” Salisbury said.

Two weeks ago, the middle school and Sccarappa School had its first lockdown drills of 2013. Westbrook Public Safety Director Michael Pardue said the other schools and the Westbrook Community Center will have similar drills in the coming weeks.

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Salisbury said a lockdown could take place for reasons other than a gun on school property. It could be initiated because of a suspicious person. To lessen the possibility of suspicious people on school property, the policy committee is also looking at how to stop visitors from entering the buildings without checking in at the front desk and receiving a pass.

Pardue tested the middle school before Christmas break by walking through its hallways without a pass. He was stopped twice.

“I do a walk-through of some of the schools once a week,” he said this week. “I very much enjoy interacting with faculty and students. Obviously, the role of law enforcement is very important in the school settings. It was actually extremely well done by the faculty. It was exactly what they should do. Absolutely with flying colors they passed that test process that we employed.”

Pardue said he did have some suggestions to add additional video monitoring and entry buzzers to the schools and the community center, which Pardue also monitors, but overall, he said he was satisfied with the outcome of his walk-throughs.

The amount of people applying for new concealed weapons permits is on the rise in the city, Pardue said. In 2012, 91 people applied for new permits, in 2011, 84 people applied.

Requirements for obtaining a new permit differ from city to city. In Westbrook, residents hoping to get a permit must show proof of having taken a handgun safety course, pay a $35 fee and meet with Pardue, who signs off on all accepted applications.

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“They go through a rigorous background check and we make sure we do our due diligence to the degree possible allowed by law, but it’s also the right of a person to be able to obtain a concealed weapons permit if they go through the process successfully,” Pardue said.

The police background check includes obtaining any arrest records, and information from hospitals about the mental stability of the applicant.

Concealed weapons permits allow holders to have a weapon in public, concealed on their body or in close proximity. The permits are for four years.

According to the Maine State Police website, approximately 6,000 permits are processed each year by the state police. They are experiencing so many requests for a concealed weapon permit, the application process may be delayed longer than usual.


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