As Canton Children Return to School Officials say Additional Support, Security Measures Are in Place

With the tragic and frightening killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School fresh on parents' minds, there will be additional support and security measures in place as students return to school Monday, Canton officials said. 

Sunday night, Superintendent Kevin Case said there will continue to be an additional police presence at the schools this week. 

"We're just trying to put in as many safety precautions as possible," Case said. 

The school system has many security, procedures and other policies that are continually re-evaluated and school officials are meeting with police this week to further review them, Case said. He said the buildings themselves will be part of that discussion. 

Police chief Christopher Arciero reiterated that he wants to study the after action report on the Newtown tragedy before making any wholesale changes. Such reports analyze events, especially catastrophic or tragic ones, and recommend changes that the subject and others can make to improve safety and other aspects. 

Still Arciero said it is a good time to start reviewing procedures. 

"Everything will be looked at," he said. 

In case of an emergency, another issue is information. The schools use an alert system to notify parents and residents can also sign up for the town's email notifications, follow the town on twitter and sign up for state emergency notifications at http://www.ct.gov/ctalert/site/default.asp. The latter allows users to have emergency messages sent in a number of ways, such as via text, e-mail or phone message.

In addition to security, school officials said many support measures are in place as well. School principals have sent letters to parents with thoughts and resources and on Monday, Case said, counselors and support staff will be available at each school.