School Committee Approves Funding for School Security Measures

By Adam Swift

The School Committee approved spending up to $90,000 for some short-term upgrades for security and safety measures at the high school for the remainder of the school year.

The measures will also hopefully kickstart longer-term initiatives for the next school year at the high school, according to school officials.

Revere High School Principal Chris Bowen requested adding two new security and translator positions at the high school, as well as raising the pay rate for those positions from $17 to $23 per hour to encourage more applicants. In addition, Bowen also requested increasing the number of campus support positions from six to 10.

“They are running out of people to do bathroom duty and other duties,” said School Committee member Michael Ferrante. “Here, he is looking to add four people, (and) the cost is not significant here.”

Ferrante noted that the cost for 10 campus staffing positions will be included in the budget for the next school year, but that filling the positions now would put the school in a good position.

In addition, Ferrante said Bowen requested the replacement of the field house doors at the high school with modern fire doors at an estimated cost of $12,000. The principal also requested an update to the electronic hall pass system, but believed that could be done at no cost.

“Part of the plan is that we repurpose security translators and the way they are used now and give them a more specific assignment,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dianne Kelly.

That campus staff monitors cameras, hallways, and bathrooms, among other duties.

By increasing the team from six to 10 staff members, Kelly said there would then be three people each assigned to the second and third floors, and four assigned to the first floor of the high school.

“(Bowen) and his team have done a lot of thinking about this, about who would be where and how they would move, so he has a very detailed plan,” said Kelly. “But he is also simultaneously thinking about redesigning the structure of his administrative team and having each assistant principal be in charge of a certain house of students that would have social workers and guidance counselors on a specific team assigned to those roughly 500 kids.”

School Committee member John Kingston said he was at the high school recently and saw Bowen performing monitor duty during lunch.

“We have the money, and to see a principal standing in the hallway doing what he was doing, I don’t think that is the best use of his time,” said Kingston. “He was doing it out of necessity, and I think he needs the help.”