By JIMMY LAWTON

POTSDAM -- Potsdam Central School is gathering input from faculty and parents as it looks to revise a five-year-old security policy.

"We are a community school, we take community input," Superintendent Patrick Brady said.

He said the recent shooting in Connecticut has raised awareness about school safety and prompted discussion about improving policies.

Brady said faculty met Monday morning to reiterate existing policies with staff members and get feedback on how existing protocol could be improved.

A similar meeting was held with parents Monday evening.

"We met (Monday) night with parents to talk about existing security policies and how they can be improved," he said.

Information from both meetings will be shared with the committee, which meets tonight.

In the mean time, Potsdam has implemented some new security measures. Elementary teachers are locking classroom doors and guests are being screened more thoroughly.

Brady said locking doors is a temporary measure put in place, but could become the norm depending on the plan adopted by the school board.

"We are still in the discussion phase. At this point we are going to continue to look at the measures put in place and see if they can be improved."

Brady said improvements to security have been made gradually in recent years. He said keyless entries have been added to doors and that all entrances, aside from the main lobbies, are locked during the day.

He said at some of the main entrances cameras are set up and parents have to be buzzed in when visiting the school.

Brady said the school also holds regular emergency drills for situations like Tuesday's bomb scare, in which students had to be sheltered in a secure location while police searched the schools for explosive devices.

"After the events in Connecticut Friday, we thought it was worth looking at our own security," he said.