Parents have many things to worry about when it comes to their kids. Among the most frightening is the threat of sex offenders.
At a public safety meeting in Essex County recently, sex offenders and their proximity to schools was discussed. It's an issue that everyone involved with the school system takes seriously.
Ausable Valley Central District Superintendent Paul Savage wants to keep school kids safe from sex offenders and has even provided a link to the registry on the district web site for parents.
"So anybody can go on there look and type in their address or zip code and find out who's residing in their areas," Savage said.
If you type in the Keeseville Elementary School zip code you find about a dozen names that pop up with residences nearby. It's why some locals and officials are calling for stronger laws to keep offenders away from where children reside.
"It's an issue about whether we hear about someone moving in or whether it's a concern a parent would have. I've had those conversations absolutely," Savage said.
"This is an area of many kids and the kids that walk to school that don't take ride the busses," Keeseville Elementary Teacher aide Val Shuknecht said.
"It would be better for them if there was stricter laws in that way."
Shuknecht has a grandchild who attends Keeseville as does fellow teacher aide Sue Tromblee. Keeping their grand kids safety as a top priority for them means supporting stronger laws limiting sex offenders living locations.
"So that we do know if there is any living in close proximity so that we can heighten our awareness even more than what we're doing," Tromblee said
To increase that awareness over the issue there is a meeting set for October 22nd that will include district attorneys, sheriffs, probation managers and school officials from Franklin, Essex and Clinton counties.
They'll discuss what can be done to enhance sex offender laws. There are questions over the legality of limiting where sex offenders can live but they hope at minimum they can raise awareness and come up with new ideas.
