New School Facilities Monitor Hire Draws Armed Guards Discussion

A new full time facilities monitor has been hired at West Morris Central High School nearly two months after longtime “Chief” ambiguously left his post at the start of the school year.

Timothy Smarth was approved by the West Morris Regional Board of Education Monday night at a rate of $36,000 annually. Smarth will be at the school during normal class hours and monitoring the campus, the students who come and go throughout the day, and visitors who come to the school.

Smartha’s first day was Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Richard Lansing, affectionately known as “Chief,” was hired as a fulltime facilities monitor in the late 1990s at the school. Because Lansing’s departure from the school was a personnel matter, no administrators were at liberty to discuss how or why the separation occurred, only to say it was “mutually agreed upon with Principal Steve Ryan” and the facilities monitor.

After the split, students from Central took to Facebook and created a page titled “Save Chief,” showing support for the beloved faculty member and calling for his return to the campus.

Some students pleaded to “save our favorite person in west morris cetral high school,” and to “help him like he helped all of us.”

Smarth is joined by part-time facilities monitor John Notte. 

Possible Armed Guard Rumor Draws Groans

Washington Township resident Leslie Mule asked superintendent Mackey Pendergrast about a rumor she heard relating to the new facilities monitor that she found unsettling.

“I heard a rumor… and it wouldn’t be true immediately, but I’m hearing the new facilities monitor could possibly be carrying a concealed weapon,” Mule said. “I think it’s a bad idea and as a parent it makes me unsettled. I can’t see any reason at all to have a weapon in a school.”

According to state law, Pendergrast said, the final decision on whether a faculty member at the school carries a weapon is made by the superintendent.

Pendergrast did not discount Mule’s rumors, nor did he verify them. He did defer to the proposed security threat analysis that was approved later in the meeting, saying the recommendations that would come from those findings would likely play a role in his decision making.

"I certainly wouldn't do something that goes against what the board and parents are comfortable with," Pendergrast told Patch. "If the analysis does propose the presence of a weapon in the school – that's just one piece of information. We'd speak with the local police about it, parents, and board members for more information."

Pendergrast held a forum on security at Mendham High School Nov. 6, and spoke with about two dozen parents for close to two and-a-half hours, he said.

The overwhelming response was that parents wanted an armed person in the hallways of Mendham High School, Pendergrast said. The superintendent said he plans to have a similar forum at West Morris Central High School in the near future.

The security threat analysis is due back to the administration by Dec. 1.