EF to consider forming district safety task force

Superintendent Keith Konyk said they are taking a proactive approach to keep students and staff safe.

Last week, Elizabeth Forward School District Superintendent Keith Konyk sent a letter out to district parents/guardians regarding a “concerning social media comment” that has been shared primarily among middle school students.

Konyk addressed the letter during Elizabeth Forward school board’s regular meeting Wednesday. The comment didn’t target a specific building and the only identifying information in the post was a name that cannot be found in the student information database, he said. In a separate incident, another comment was made last Wednesday on a school bus and was reported to the middle school, according to the letter.

The matter has been investigated by the district, building administration and local law enforcement, according to Konyk, who said neither party was able to find evidence of a credible threat.

“I want to make sure we understand and, according to my documentation, the threats were all dealt with even though there were some accusations of threats,” Konyk said. “The district responded to those along with some support of our school resource officer, which our Elizabeth Township police department members investigated pretty thoroughly, and were able to find that there was no evidence of a threat.”

In an abundance of caution, Konyk said the district has worked with its safety officers and local law enforcement to provide an increased security presence in all buildings.

“We have had a lot of communications from folks asking for safety preventative measures and safety factors that we can talk about and consider in light of these,” Konyk said. “We are very proud of the safety things that we have in place, but we are also a school and we are also lifelong learners, so what we are looking to do is put together a task force.”

While Konyk didn’t mention who exactly will be on this task force, he stated that the district has several safety officers who are retired state troopers, two board members who have experience as police officers and safety coordinators Dr. Randal Sydeski and Dr. Brad Simala.

Resident Holly Herceg asked the board if any further preventative measures were being put into place, and appreciated that there were school officers in the buildings.

“All those things can make us feel a little bit safer,” Herceg said. “My question was about what we are doing as a district to prevent students from bringing weapons into the school as far as metal detectors or bag searches? Any thoughts on that moving forward?”

Konyk said more precautions are why the task force is being put together, and said the task force is going to talk to other school districts to find out what they are doing so they can come up with some recommendations for the school board.

However, Konyk said legally they cannot disclose anything about security details because they do not want to advertise how they secure their schools to the public, but they will advertise what they can.

“We’re blessed to have some very experienced and qualified folks help us make some decisions. We have access to research as well, but that’s the plan moving forward and they will present that information to the board,” Konyk said. “We have security guards in all of our buildings now which I think is very important to folks that come into the building that are now in that contained space as well. We just need to be very careful.”

School board President Thomas Sharkey said the board has been through a situation like this before, and that is why they have armed and experienced security guards.

“We are one of the first districts to do that,” Sharkey said. “A lot of districts followed, so I’m proud of this board that made this decision at that time to keep our kids safe.”

Konyk recommended those who have questions to contact him directly or other administrators and to continue to report anything suspicious to a teacher or staff member.

He also encouraged residents and parents to attend school board meetings to get accurate information.

“Our students and parents reporting things to the office is incredibly helpful. The community in terms of seeing something, reporting it is incredibly important so we appreciate those comments that come to us,” Konyk said. “I would encourage folks to report things to the district office, and if you have questions about details, we will share as much as we can legally, but I ask that folks call the school and really work through the district to get accurate information. A lot of people need to be careful of misinformation going out as well.”

In other news, all motions passed, including:

• The 2024-25 athletic officials compensation, game workers salary and ticket prices.

• Approval of clubs, student activity funds, programs, activities and sponsors for 2024-25.

• Purchasing Study Pod Glass Systems from Specified Systems for $45,000 for the high school’s media center.

• Policies for bullying/cyberbullying as well as public records.