Protestors Peacefully Rally Against Having Armed Guards in Enfield Schools

More than two dozen students and parents gathered outside Town Hall Monday to express their opposition to a recommendation that Enfield place an armed guard in each of its schools.

A joint school security subcommittee of the Town Council and Board of Education, aided by police and school officials, made the recommendation after meeting for 10 weeks following the Dec. 14 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults.

The panel recommended that retired police officers be recruited to work at the schools, as both security and as a "greeter" or "face of the school," Board of Education chairman Tim Neville said last week. If approved by both the council and school board, plans are to implement the guards by no later than the start of the new school year in September.

The protest was organized by Nick Ide and Ronnie Deske, a pair of Enfield High School students who decided to let members of the town council know their feelings about the controversial subject.

Ide, Deske and other supporters of their cause began arriving at the rear of Town Hall around 5 p.m. Monday, prior to a 5:30 special meeting of the council in the lower level Enfield Room.

Several council members stopped to chat with the protestors on their way into the meeting, which was to be held in executive session to discuss "matters concerning security strategy or the deployment of security personnel, or devices affecting public security," according to the agenda.

"They're out here sticking up for what they think is right, and that's what America is about," Councilman Joe Bosco said. "The way it is right now, I can't go for it. Speaking for myself, if someone is that sick like Adam (Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter), they're going to get them when they're in school, they're going to get them on the school bus, they're going to jump the curb and run them over on the playground, and you're not going to stop it. Our kids will be in fear all the time. As it stands right now, I don't know if I can support this."

Councilman Greg Stokes, the subcommittee co-chair, and Mayor Scott Kaupin were among the other council members who stopped to listen to the group's concerns.

"Everybody's for school safety, but we're also for common sense," parent Amalita Grimes said. "We want a common sense solution to large problems, and I think that we can do better than this."

Ide and Deske produced posters to inform students of the protest, then placed them at the entrances to each town school over the weekend. On Monday, they handed out flyers inside Enfield High School, which landed them in a bit of hot water.

"Today I got suspended for handing out some posters at school," Ide said. "They hadn't told us that we couldn't hand them out, even after I had talked to the principal. I don't agree with them suspending me, but I won't really protest that."

Ide said he felt the rally was very effective.

"I definitely this is going very well, I didn't even expect this many people," he said, adding he would not hesitate to organize a similar event if need be.

His father, Ben Ide, was among the supporters at the protest.

"I just want to say how really proud I am of my son for organizing this," Ben Ide said. "This was an absolutely fantastic turnout, and it's great he can make his voice heard and that kids are also getting a voice in this discussion. Nick and I, oddly enough, don't always agree on everything, but he and I agree on this, that armed guards in the schools aren't really the solution. We need to come up with something else - something that's going to be permanent, more lasting and less prone to accidents."