Submitted Photo Pictured, from left, are Lieutenant Brandon Walters, Allegany-Cattaraugus Superintendent Association Representative Kaine Kelly, Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb, State Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, Gowanda CSD’s Director of Facilities Richard Smith and Gowanda SRO Deputy Ben Shields.

GOWANDA — Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb, along with State Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda, district 148 and Allegany-Cattaraugus Superintendent Association representative Kaine Kelly are unanimously throwing their support behind the proposed multi-million-safety upgrades included in the Gowanda Central School district’s two-part capital improvements project.

The project is up for public vote on Thursday, Dec. 13. The project, if successful, would have zero impact on the tax levy for residents of the Gowanda district.

Observing that this is the first proposed security upgrade of this magnitude in Cattaraugus County, Whitcomb contacted Giglio and Kelly and wanted to meet with officials from the Gowanda school district to explore the scope of the proposed project.

Sheriff Whitcomb took note that the proposed project runs parallel with a press release from Feb. 27 in which he, Giglio and Kelly called for more security in schools in the wake of the Parkland shooting.

On Monday morning, Whitcomb met with Kelly, Giglio, Lieutenant Brandon Walters, Gowanda Central School Director of Facilities Richard Smith and Deputy Ben Shields, who serves as the district’s school resource officer, regarding the proposed upgrades to the elementary, middle and high school entrances in the Gowanda district.

During the warmer months, average temperatures in the elementary, middle and high schools soar into the 80s and 90s, leading to conditions inhospitable to student learning. The opening of windows, in an effort to cool down the classrooms, raises serious safety concerns about point of entry vulnerability. Expanding climate control throughout the three schools, which is also included in proposition one, would eliminate the need to open windows even on the hottest days.

Whitcomb noted that proposition one includes new, reconfigured entrances district-wide, including secure, controlled vestibules. The proposition also relocates the high school and elementary school main entrances so they have a forward-looking view of the approach to the schools. Whitcomb agreed that this is a very forward-thinking approach to securing our schools and hopes that if passed, other districts could follow suit.