Parents demand accountability after loaded gun and lockdown at Longcoy Elementary

Melena Sarra, a parent of a student at Longcoy Elementary, told the Kent City Schools board on May 19 that a second grader brought a loaded handgun into her child’s classroom in April and that initial staff responses downplayed the incident. "That should have been enough for immediate leadership accountability," Sarra said, accusing school leaders of treating the weapon as an "inconvenience." She said a 911 recording showed a staff member asking someone to "come get the item" and saying she would handle discipline while the student remained in class.

Several other parents and a teacher told the board they remain alarmed by a separate, more recent lockdown and what they described as inconsistent communication. Christine Vays, a high school teacher, said she was told by Superintendent Tom Larkin that Ohio law would bar the student from returning for 180 days; she also said many Longcoy staff reported only brief (30–45 minute) safety trainings and asked why ParentSquare alerts were not sent during the earlier incident.

"Policies don't protect kids," Sarah Zenzone said she was told by the superintendent; Zenzone pushed back at the meeting, urging the district to adopt feasible changes now, including clear backpacks or a requirement that backpacks remain in lockers during the school day to reduce opportunities for concealed items. She called such steps "low- to no-cost" options other Ohio districts have used and said the district should not wait until a tragedy occurs.

Superintendent Tom Larkin acknowledged parents' concerns and said the district is conducting an external review. "We do care deeply about this and I'm sorry — we were not communicating it clearly enough about how the external review is going," he said at the meeting, adding that the review team has been conducting interviews and that the board is meeting in executive session to begin to hear preliminary items from that team.

Parents at the meeting said trust in district leadership has eroded, with several describing families who planned to keep children home. Speakers asked for transparent timelines and the findings of the external review. The board moved into executive session later in the meeting to discuss emergency response protocols; no public outcome from that executive session was announced before adjournment.

What happens next: The superintendent said the district will share more information "when we have more that we can share" after the review. Parents at the meeting urged near-term actions such as clearer staff communication during incidents, more robust drills and consideration of bag-visibility or storage policies as immediate mitigations.