A school security guard in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, is suing the school district that fired him. This security guard alleges that the school district wrongfully terminated him after exposing several security flaws within the school.
As reported by Patch:
FRANKLIN LAKES, NJ — A former Ramapo High School security officer is seeking damages in a wrongful-termination lawsuit that targets the school’s principal and security director, and the school district, for retaliating against him “speaking truthfully” to a parent about a security concern.
The suit, filed June 28 in the Superior Court of Bergen County, stems from an incident that occurred on June 7, when Principal Travis Smith informed William Kirsch, who was employed in the position for three years, that his contract would not be renewed, because the school was “going in a different direction,” Kirsch alleged in the suit.
The discharge came two weeks after Kirsch, while he was on duty, had, the suit alleges, spoke “truthfully’ with a parent about the front doors of the school being unlocked, and then agreed with her that the unlocked doors were “not safe.” Kirsch, of Ramsey, said he was denied renewal as retaliation “for reporting and not concealing a set of circumstances,” which are contrary to state regulations, state policy and the policies of the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District Board of Education.
He alleges, in the suit, that “for some weeks” prior to June 7, the door was broken and could not be locked, and that he was told by school district Security Coordinator Charlie Wolff, on June 7, that he “should have lied” about the door and there were “things parents didn’t need to know.”
There are serious flaws with school security systems across the county. Unfortunately, as we have seen at the school in Uvalde, Texas, this can lead to terrible things.
The security guard at this school will probably lose his lawsuit. The school district had rules in place that prevented officials like him from discussing these issues with relevant parties (like parents). What this school security official did was admirable; he wasn’t able to solve the problem, so he gave the information about it to a parent who would raise the issue with officials. This is what got him fired.
