Parents and students press Montgomery County school board for faster action on elementary security, IDs and emergency comms

At the Jan. 9 Montgomery County Board of Education business meeting, multiple parents, students and community advocates urged faster, more consistent safety upgrades in elementary schools after several recent incidents, including a December threat at 7 Locks Elementary that parents say has left young students frightened.

The meeting’s public-comment period was dominated by safety concerns and requests for specific measures. Philip Hill, a 7 Locks parent, said his third-grade daughter sat next to a classmate who threatened to “bring a gun in his bag and shoot everyone in the school” on Dec. 18; Hill said he asked for a bag search and class reassignment and that the school refused. “How is it that an 8‑year‑old can have a clearer sense of what constitutes a danger than an elementary school principal?” he asked.

Several speakers requested more consistent ID enforcement districtwide. Anova Malu, a Montgomery Blair High School junior who spoke as a student, proposed making IDs serve an extra everyday function to encourage wearing them, and suggested…