Octorara Area School Board member John J. McCartney Jr., wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, walked into Monday’s school board meeting and quietly sat down.
No one aimed a gun at the bulls-eye target on the Sadsbury Township resident’s chest. There were a few knowing smiles and nods as school board members prepared to pray and then say the Pledge of Allegiance.
McCartney - concerned about Saturday’s fatal shooting at a civic event held by Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and an incident with a gun at a school meeting Dec. 14 in Panama City, Fl. - had made his point.
“There is no way to guarantee safety,” McCartney, a registered nurse, said after the meeting. “It (Tucson or Panama City) could be here.”
Last month McCartney wrote to fellow board members and administrators asking them to consider having a police presence, a guard, bullet-proof glass or body armor available for school board meetings. McCartney said board members asked him not to speak publicly about his concerns.
“Now this has really been brought to national attention because of last weekend’s debacle in Arizona,” McCartney said. “One of the reasons for that (shooting) may be political in nature.”
“Many people are despondent because they have lost their jobs and homes,” McCartney said. “This could happen again at a school board meeting or political gathering. Anyone who is in the public service is a target.”
McCartney said Octorara Superintendent Tom Newcome has asked a state police officer to address board members next month about personal safety.
McCartney said his statement was not at all meant as a joke. “Far from it,” he said.
The school board next meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17 in the middle school multipurpose room to discuss a tax increase and budget for the 2011-12 school year, and high school curriculum. The board is negotiating a new contract with its teachers union.
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