Gun remark made at local school board meeting

Just days after a gunman open fired at school officials during a public meeting in Florida, a man told West Irondequoit school board members that nothing “short of a gun to the head approach” would change what he believes is their mismanagement of the district.
The incident happened at Thursday’s meeting when resident Leonard Siebert approached the board to speak during the public comment part of the meeting. During his comments, he defended another citizen’s effort to have top officials removed from their positions.
“His effort wouldn’t be so necessary if the district would respond to anything short of a gun to the head approach,” Siebert said.

After making that statement, Siebert paused for five seconds before continuing. When he finished speaking, the board told him his comments were inappropriate, but allowed him to stay for the rest of the meeting.
The following day the district filed an informational report with police to make a record of the incident, although no action was taken and Siebert was not arrested. A video of the meeting is available on the school district’s website.
“We couldn’t believe that he actually said that,” said Superintendent Jeff Crane. “Even though you think about how you would respond if something like that happens, we were shocked.”
The local incident came just two days after the shooting in Bay City, Fla., an episode that called attention to school board safety protocols all over the country.
While schools have strict protocols to keep campuses secure, those restrictions tend to be nonexistent at administrative offices and during school board meetings. That lack of security can become a concern during public meetings, where angry outbursts, threats to school officials and even arrests are not unheard of. And while administrators get intensive training on how to respond to crises on their campuses, school board members rarely get safety training.
“We constantly advise them in all of our assessments to include some safety measures,” Ken Trump, with National School Safety and Security Services. “You can’t justify not taking the appropriate steps to reduce the risks in today’s world.”
The West Irondequoit meeting took place at one of the district’s schools and two students were present to hear the comment.

Last year the school district amped up its security at meetings, adding an unarmed security officer, after a number of meetings got rowdy with emotional outbursts from the public. Crane said that last week’s incident will likely prompt a new conversation about what else the district can do to ensure safety at meetings.
Siebert did not return calls for comment Monday. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20101221/NEWS01/12210320/Gun-remark-made-at-local-school-board-meeting