WESTFIELD — At their recent meeting, Westfield Academy and Central School Board members reacted to the March 27 mass shooting at a private Nashville school in which six people were killed.

Board member Tom Tarpley commended the school district for having a school resource officer on staff.

“The events in Nashville … are a stark reminder of why it is so critical to have an armed police officer in our school. It literally can be the difference between life or death,” he said. “I want to thank the Westfield Police Department and especially our school resource officer for keeping our students and staff safe. I also want to thank my colleagues on the board for never balking at the decision to fund a school resource officer here at Westfield Academy and Central School.”

Tarpley said that in today’s culture, the safety of the school must be a primary focus.

“The most important thing we can do is make sure that everyone who comes here in the morning goes home safely at the end of the day,” he said.

In other news:

¯ The board approved a resolution to appoint Molly Anderson to the administrative tenure area of elementary principal at their March 27 meeting.

Prior to approving the appointment, Westfield school board members abolished the elementary principal/director of special education position, effective May 1, after which they established the elementary principal position.

Superintendent Michael Cipolla said the district is merely realigning some positions. “We are reshuffling administrative duties,” he said. “We are abolishing some titles and creating new ones.”

Anderson’s probationary term will begin May 1 and end on April 30, 2026. “Molly is professionally certified in the School Building Leader certification area,” Cipolla said.

Board members offered Anderson their congratulations.

¯ Board President Wendy Dyment introduced two policies for a first reading: Students with Life-Threatening Health Conditions and Opioid Overdose Prevention. A brief discussion of the policies and the use of Narcan in the school followed.

¯ Dyment reminded board members that the Senior Citizens Breakfast will be held on Thursday, May 11. She reminded fellow board members that they should be considering nominations for the Friend to Education award. Dyment asked them to review the list of previous recipients and email or text suggestions to her.

¯ Dyment reminded board members that the superintendent’s evaluation can be submitted on paper or online. She asked when it might be possible for everyone to have the evaluations returned to her; the decision was made to forward all applications to Dyment by Saturday.