While Millburn’s first week of school went very smoothly, unfortunately we must share condolences with a community whose opening days will be remembered for the first school shooting of the academic year. Our sympathies are with the students, staff and families of Georgia’s Appalachee High School.  

Along with every school district in the country our highest priority is the safety and welfare of our staff and students.  As we begin this school year, I want to remind the community of the safety measures we have in place, and all we continue to do to protect our community. 

• Security:

  We have strong and close partnerships with the Millburn Police Department, Office of Emergency Management, and the Volunteer First Aid Squad, who support our schools and students whenever we need them. 

• Mike Palardy, Director of Security, and the Security Officers in all of our schools are all former police officers, who are approved to carry a firearm in a concealed carry format. 

• We follow all gun safety protocols in our schools and insist on them in homes where guns exist. All officers have gun safes in each of the buildings where they will lock their firearms if they need to remove them for any reason.

• The Millburn Police Department provides information about gun safety on their website, and it includes advice from the BeSMART program which is run by Everytown for Gun Safety.

• As part of the 2020 referendum projects, the district installed security vestibules in all of the schools. Doors are locked at all times during the school day.  Visitors are limited, and those entering the building must provide identification using the new Visitor Aware registration system.   

• We are mandated by the state to hold drills regularly.  This chart details the types of protocols and emergency responses that parents should be familiar with. The district updated our Security Drills policy in March 2020, to address concerns that lockdown drills can be traumatizing to students and staff.  As a result, students are now told when it is a drill, and parents are alerted by the school at the end of the day that a lockdown drill has been held

• Threat Assessment Teams: All districts and schools in New Jersey must have threat assessment teams, who identify, evaluate, and address threats or potential threats to school security.  Threat assessment teams review incidents of threatening or concerning behavior by students (current and former), parents, school employees, or other individuals.  

• Student Support and Intervention: Our school leaders, guidance counselors, nurses, teachers, and staff members make it a top priority to know and understand the needs of all of our students.  When there is a concern about a student, it is addressed in multiple ways - interventions by school psychologists, counselors, and parents.  The student will be sent out for assessment and must have a doctor’s approval and clearance in order to return to school. Teachers and staff alert administrators whenever a student is in distress or presents with harmful behavior,  writings, or drawings. 

Parent Welcome Back Wellness Presentation

Thanks to all who came out last night to hear from John Comegno on supporting our children and families throughout the school year to improve student wellness.  His message of keeping children safe and well includes limiting distractions, and yes that means cell phones.  Having constant conversations to understand what your children are thinking. And probably most importantly, teaching them resilience, and the importance of making and learning from mistakes. 

We thank Mr. Comegno for his support of our teachers and families to get us off to a strong start to the 2024-2025 school year!

View his presentation here.

Board of Education Meeting Monday