Parents press Montgomery County Public Schools for elementary security upgrades after threats and vulnerabilities

Parents and community members used the board’s public‑comment period on Jan. 9 to press Montgomery County Public Schools for faster, clearer action on elementary‑school safety after a series of in‑school threats and what they described as persistent vulnerabilities at multiple campuses.

At a hearing crowded with parents and children, speakers described a Dec. 18 incident at 7 Locks Elementary in which a third grader allegedly threatened to bring a gun to school and “kill everyone.” Philip Hill, the child’s father, told the board, “How is it that an 8‑year‑old can have a clearer sense of what constitutes a danger than [the] elementary school principal?” He said the student had a documented history of violence and that parents’ requests for a bag search and a class reassignment were denied.

The testimony at the board meeting included other parent calls for hardening measures in elementary buildings: mandates for panic buttons and emergency alert systems for teachers, improved cell phone and radio coverage inside school buildings, standardized school security assessments for all elementary campuses, hiring more safety staff or school resource officers, and routine checks such as bag searches when a student poses a threat.

“Not only do students use the turf field for recreation, building code requires access to the turf field in the event of an emergency situation,” said Melinda Chisick Frower, vice president of the Tubman Tigers PTA, pressing the board for a complete fence around Harriet Tubman Elementary’s playground, blacktop and shared turf field in Gaithersburg.

District officials told the board they are addressing some of the concerns. Adnan Mamoun, deputy chief of facilities for MCPS, said at the meeting that fencing around Harriet Tubman’s playground areas “is being installed currently” and that the district’s standard playground fence height is 4 feet, with higher fences used along property lines when required.

School security leaders also described systemwide steps under way. Marcus Jones, chief of security and compliance, said MCPS has largely completed a state‑funded upgrade of middle‑school cameras and is installing additional new or upgraded cameras at other schools. He said plans are in motion to deploy vape detectors at selected high schools and that a countywide evaluation of emergency alert systems (panic‑button technologies) is underway to identify a vendor and feasible approach. Jones noted that gaps in cellular coverage inside some buildings complicate phone‑based alert options and that radio interoperability work is also in progress with county partners.

Shauna Kaye, a district official who oversees serious‑incident reporting, described how the system distinguishes routine discipline incidents from “serious incidents” — events that entail threat, bodily harm, major disruption or potential criminal referral — and said the district is working to improve tracking and follow‑up. She told the board that roughly 78.6% of previously open serious‑incident reports have been closed with follow‑up and supports.

Several parents asked the board to require more consistent implementation of the district’s ID policy, which some speakers said had been adopted unevenly across campuses and needed incentives and enforcement. A student speaker from Montgomery Blair High School proposed one incentive idea: using ID badge barcodes to allow students to check out free hygiene supplies and naloxone discreetly, giving them a reason to have their ID visible every day.

Board members and the superintendent acknowledged parents’ concerns and said work is ongoing. Several trustees asked staff for more detailed, school‑by‑school information on security gaps — including where cameras, radios or cell coverage fail — and for an explanation of how district teams will prioritize and fund fixes.

Ending

District staff said the security assessment of high schools is nearly complete and that middle‑school visits are planned for the second semester; officials promised to bring a consolidated set of recommended technical and operational actions back to the board, along with estimates of costs and timelines. Parents asked the board to move more quickly and to share interim mitigation measures while longer projects — fencing, camera upgrades, radio and cell solutions — proceed.