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Parent urges armed guards after student brought firearm; speaker says guards are for stopping acts in progress
Summary
At the start of the March 5 public comment period, East Setauket parent Michael Reese said the district should adopt armed security, citing a recent incident of a student bringing a firearm to school and arguing trained armed professionals stop acts in progress.
Michael Reese, a parent from East Setauket, told the Three Village Board of Education during public comments on March 5 that the district should adopt armed security at schools following a recent incident in which a student brought a firearm to school.
“I did not want to come up here and have to be another parent who supports armed guards…The safety of our children and staff cannot wait,” Reese said, adding that while no one was harmed in the recent incident, the district should “act decisively.”
Reese cited Smithtown’s implementation of armed security as an example and argued that the principal purpose of on‑site armed personnel is to stop an act in progress. He said studies showing armed guards do not prevent incidents do not address the speed of resolution once an incident starts.
The board did not take action on security policy during the workshop. The superintendent and board members addressed security and safety expenses later in the meeting in the context of budget planning, but no formal policy change was proposed at the March 5 session.
Ending: The board acknowledged the public concern about safety as the meeting moved to budget items and said security costs are part of the district’s broader fiscal review.
