Arlene Brosky, the Secaucus schools’ supervisor of special education, said last week that she had she met with the superintendent of schools, principals and the child study team to put together a plan of action that would address students’ problems in dealing with the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Every school had a faculty conference, and social workers and mental health professionals talked with teachers as to how to handle questions students might bring. Teachers were instructed in signs of students in distress.
Brosky said the schools focused on trying to bring classes back to a sense of normal, while at the same time supplying psychological and guidance personnel in case anyone needs further assistance.
Brosky said long-term stress management plans would be implemented for students, teachers and parents.
"All of the mental health people are on staff," she said. "We have a very substantial mental health staff."
Most parents accounted for
School officials said last week that the Sept. 11 dismissal of the school went smoothly, but that the process should be improved. It went on for hours, officials said.
"When the thing first happened, about a dozen students didn’t know the fate of their parents," said Frank Costello, assistant principal at the high school.
One girl’s mother worked on the 80th floor of the World Trade Center. Later it was learned that she had had to go downstairs for something and was downstairs when the plane struck.
"She called the school to let her daughter know she was alright," Costello said.
Another student’s uncle was found later with a broken leg at one of the hospitals.
Anthony Zito, an eighth grade student, said he had a family member near the World Trade Center as well as a neighbor, and was concerned over their fate. Many students, Zito said, were aware of missing members of other students’ families.
Costello said students handled the situation extraordinarily well.
"They were interested and they were frightened," he said. "But they followed directives issued by the superintendent of schools."
Many of the students actually saw the buildings fall from a vantage point behind the school, and though initially televisions were turned on at various places in the school, officials later turned them off to avoid increasing student tension.
"Nearly everybody remained calm," Brosky said.
Mayor Dennis Elwell and Superintendent Constantino Scerbo agreed to keep students in the schools until a parent or another responsible adult could be contacted to pick each student up.
"Every student was picked up by a responsible adult," Brosky said. "We sent no one home on a bus."
Brosky said every home was called, and Pat Impreveduto, principal to the high school, said in the cases where no one answered, a teacher or some other school worker was sent to the house to leave a note.
"We wanted to make sure they knew where their kids were," Pat Impreveduto said.
Brosky and Impreveduto both noted that the last kids left school just before 6 p.m.
"We do have one child whose mom is missing," said Ralph Merlo, principal of Clarendon School. "We have special counseling for him."
Another child’s uncle was reported missing, and Brosky said mental health care professionals were monitoring both situations.
Working on improvements
Middle School Principal Fred Ponti said he and his staff followed step-by-step instructions issued by the superintendent.
"Things went very well, and we made the safety of the kids our first priority," he said.
High School principal Pat Impreveduto said there were areas that could be improved.
To begin with, the changing population of the school makes it necessary to have translators for the parents.
"While I thought we would need someone to speak Spanish," he said. "What we found is that we also needed someone to speak Chinese or Korean."
He said if this happens again, he might make use of a 12th grader to translate.
The last time the school was evacuated was during a nor’easter when high water flooded the parking lot and threatened to flood the school.
Impreveduto said it was his choice to keep the students as informed as possible, even though the news was distressing.
"I think it is important that they know the facts rather than listen to rumors," he said. "The news was gruesome and horrifying, and that’s why we brought in the crisis intervention team."
Business Teacher and Department Supervisor Anthony Impreveduto said the parents were lined up in the hall and allowed into the office three at a time. Three staff members found out who they had come for and sent messengers to retrieve the students either from the gym or the cafeteria.
This process was enhanced when the office and the two areas were issued walkie talkies.
Anthony Impreveduto said that while school officials did get signatures from people picking up each student, the school was not certain if each student actually left the building.
"We also weren’t sure if a neighbor was authorized to pick up the student or not," he said.
A new system that is being currently being designed and will be sent to the Board of Education for approval, would have all the students in the gym. The office would have a receipt book with triplicate copies, and people at the doors would take a copy from the parents as they left with the building with the student.
Parents would also be required to fill out a form at the beginning of the year listing those adults, neighbors or family members that authorized to take the student out in a case of evacuation.
Another problem was the noise. While the three staff members tried to make sense of what the parents were saying at the main desk, other staff members were busy on the phone calling students at home.
"The noise was terrible," he said, noting that in any future situation, teachers would occupy phone banks well away from the main office.