Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Security topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Three Village officials discuss armed guards, civil‑service limits and metal detectors
Summary
Staff told the board Suffolk County Civil Service lists 'armed guard' as a competitive title, which constrains direct hiring; the district also explored metal detectors (estimated ~$5,000 each) but raised concerns about throughput and response infrastructure.
District staff briefed the Three Village Board on security options and constraints, saying county civil‑service rules and the logistics of screening thousands of people each morning complicate any plan to add armed guards or metal detectors.
"Suffolk County civil service has weighed in and recently taken the position that the armed guard piece is now a competitive title," a district presenter said, noting a list published in December 2024 and an existing eligible list of roughly 27 names. "The way the competitive world works is you have to take from the list first," the presenter added, explaining that if no eligible candidates accept, the district could provisionally hire internal staff who must later pass the civil‑service test.
Staff said the district could also push for additional civil‑service testing so current employees could become eligible; one operations official suggested pressuring the county to offer another test and encouraging internal staff to take it. "We could certainly reach out and try to put pressure on them to offer another test and have our employees take the test," one staff member said.
On metal detectors, the district presented a low‑end price estimate of approximately $5,000 for a portable single‑entry setup and cautioned about daily operations at Ward Melville High School, where thousands of people enter each day. Staff warned that screening students, faculty and visitors would require both time and backup plans if a prohibited item were discovered. "That's a lot of people, and we can't assume that only the students get vetted," a staff member said, pointing to practical constraints and potential staffing and scheduling impacts.
No security purchases or hiring changes were authorized at the workshop; staff framed the issues as budget and operational items to be resolved in the coming budget cycle.
