Glastonbury Board of Ed Approves Adding $500,000 for School Security

Despite cutting $579,000 from its 2013-14 budget Wednesday, the Glastonbury Board of Education voted unanimously to add $500,000 for elementary school security guards next year.

During the meeting Wednesday night, the school board unanimously passed two separate motions to add $500,000 for additional security guards for the district’s six elementary schools and sixth-grade school, Gideon Welles School. The first motion added $320,000 to add the security guards during the regular school day.

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The second motion added an additional $180,000 that would allow for additional guards before and after school during school programs. Superintendent Alan B. Bookman said Thursday that it was important to securely cover the before and after-school programs.

The board will review scheduling school-sponsored events like dances to see if they can be covered under times security will be available at their Jan. 28 meeting.

The board approved a $94.2 million budget at their Wednesday meeting for the 2013-14 school year, an increase of 3.7 percent over the current budget. The additional security funding will add an additional 0.55 percent increase to the budget.

The town council agreed Tuesday to fund security guards at the six elementary schools through the remainder of the current school year. Those guards are expected to be in place by March.

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