Student praises coach; parent urges review of weapons detectors as 'false sense of security'

During the non-agenda public-comment period, two community members addressed the board.

Hunter McCurdy of Allegheny Township spoke first in support of assistant coach Mark Flynn, saying Flynn "helps us get better and just brings a good mood to practice" and that Flynn checks on players' academics and provides mentorship. McCurdy said players value how Flynn invests time and attention in them and urged the board to keep him as an assistant coach.

Brett Stevenson of Allegheny Township then addressed school safety and the district’s weapons-detection systems. Stevenson described multiple firsthand experiences in which the units did not detect items he carried and called the technology "a false hope or false sense of security." He said detectors frequently trigger on benign items (purses, mirrors, eyeglass cases) while failing to register weapons in some trials, and he said the campus layout allows multiple bypass points that compromise the system’s effectiveness. Stevenson urged the board to seek refunds or cancel the contract and to consider deploying more law-enforcement officers intermixed with crowds instead of relying on the current devices.

Board members thanked both speakers for participating. Several members acknowledged Stevenson’s concerns and said staff would follow up; one director praised McCurdy for speaking on behalf of the team.