AUGUSTA – A task force charged with reviewing the state’s preparedness for disaster heard from Maine’s top education official Tuesday that schools are not ready, confirming the findings of a Sun Journal investigation earlier this month.

Testifying before the Task Force to Study Maine’s Homeland Security Needs, Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said that the majority of Maine schools failed to respond to a survey from her department asking if they had followed state law and developed a crisis response plan.

Of the 44 percent that responded, Gendron testified, only 30 percent said they had a plan.

Portland state Sen. Ethan Strimling, the chairman of the task force, said Gendron’s testimony caused a lot of frustration, aimed especially at local school districts that haven’t taken the requirement seriously.

“Our task force is going to look at what carrots and what sticks we’re going to have to use to get schools to perform,” Strimling said. “There are a lot of questions. The concerns are at the local level. Why hasn’t this happened?”

On Thursday, the task force is expected to complete its recommendations to the Legislature about ways to improve the state’s ability to prevent and respond to a crisis, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks.

Those recommendations, Strimling said, could include tougher requirements for schools to develop appropriate crisis plans and to better coordinate those plans with local emergency responders.

Right now, school districts are supposed to cooperate with police and fire officials, Strimling said, but the level of coordination and oversight varies from location to location.

Strimling said that Gendron was taking a hard line on the requirements, but the state law’s vagueness allows wiggle room and lets schools avoid serious penalties.

“She was very steely in her resolve,” Strimling said of Gendron. “She was very clear with us that she’s not going to give approvals to the plans unless the schools step up.”

Gendron did not return messages from the Sun Journal on Tuesday.

Strimling said his committee may recommend both funding for additional assistance from the state to help schools in developing plans and financial penalties if they fail to follow the law.

“There are a lot of questions about what we can do to strengthen this,” Strimling said.

In October, the Sun Journal sent reporters to schools throughout Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties, testing school security and asking for a copy of their crisis response plans. The results of the investigation were published Nov. 5.

In many instances, reporters found doors unsecured and were able to roam around the schools uncontested. In half of the 37 schools tested, reporters had at least 10 minutes before they were confronted. In about a quarter of schools, they were never challenged.

While all 37 schools said they had crisis response plans, several refused to release them even though they are public documents and by law should be available to anyone requesting them.

Sen. David Hastings, R-Fryeburg, said, “The Lewiston Sun’s investigation on access to schools was pretty alarming. Are the schools adequately implementing what they do now for security?”

Gendron said she shares his concern but wasn’t in a position to assess whether schools have implemented security plans that are adequate and appropriate.

“There is a feeling out there among some that it can’t happen here,” she said. “We know that is not true. It can.”

Hastings said every school needs a security plan that assures that school officials know who is in the building at any time. He said security has to be a high priority of every school, no matter where it is located.

Mal Leary of the Capitol News Service contributed to this report.

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