Students and teachers fault Hamtramck School District communication after weapon found at Horizon High School

Students and teachers said the Hamtramck School District failed to communicate promptly after police responded to a report of a weapon at Horizon High School on Feb. 11, and urged the board to adopt clearer lockdown and notification procedures.

"When I was first made aware of what happened, it was already 7 p.m.," said Laith Mohammed, a ninth-grade student at Hamtramck High School. "I was scared for the future of this district because we were not put on lockdown."

Teacher Matthew Keckler said he walked into a building that had been on lockdown during his travel between buildings and called the communication breakdown “unsafe.” He urged the district to address how traveling staff are notified when other buildings are secured. Sarah Leineke, a Hamtramck High School teacher, said the incident revealed a systemic failure: "We do not have systems in place in this district for situations like this," she told the board, calling for a clear chain of command and consistent expectations across buildings.

Speakers said staff and students learned of the police response only hours after the incident. Keckler described inconsistent follow-up to the event: one central office administrator sent an email and another brought donuts to staff the next day, but teachers reported no systematic debrief, and the teacher whose classroom was adjacent to where the weapon was found was not contacted directly to check on their welfare.

The student and staff comments raised three specific concerns: (1) delayed public and staff notification about active incidents, (2) the absence of a consistent lockdown protocol across buildings that share space with community centers, and (3) a lack of centralized post-incident support and follow-up for affected teachers and students.

Laith Mohammed asked the board, rhetorically: "If they can't take care of us on their own property, that just shows where their priorities are at." Several speakers framed the issue as both a safety and communication failure and called for concrete steps: immediate review and revision of lockdown and notification procedures, specific guidance for staff who travel between buildings during the day, and a standardized follow-up protocol to check on teachers and students after critical incidents.

Ending: Board members acknowledged the public comments and continued the meeting agenda; the transcript does not show a formal board directive taken at that meeting to change notification procedures. The speakers requested prompt administrative action and clearer protocols for future incidents.