East Brunswick To Post Armed Police Officers At Schools In Wake Of Florida Shooting
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- The East Brunswick Board of Education voted unanimously to post armed police officers in each of its 11 schools after after a gunman opened fire at a high school in South Florida Wednesday, killing 17.
Officials in the Middlesex County town spent more than two years thinking about putting police in it's 11 schools. Then, Parkland happened.
"The board felt it was time," Superintendent Victor Valeski told WCBS 880's Ethan Harp.
Valeski pushed for the active-duty officers to join dozens of unarmed, recently retired cops who make up their district-wide security force.
"The board, they knew it was the right decision but it's not one they took very lightly," Valeski said. "They struggled a little bit after the fact, realizing that it was something we had to do given the circumstances of the global environment."
An East Brunswick student was arrested Friday, not long after the BOE's vote.
In a news release, the board of education said the online posting was brought to the attention of district staff by a parent and a student at the beginning of the school day Friday.
"It was a terroristic threat that was posted to a social media site," Valeski said. "It was reported by another student who had seen it."
It wasn't immediately clear when the new security plan would roll out.
