William Floyd School Board holds emergency closed door meeting following student gun arrest

The teen was initially suspected of vaping before they detected a gun on the student. The teen is facing criminal charges.

Jenn Seelig and Kevin Vesey

Oct 21, 2024, 5:00 PM

Updated 1 hr ago

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The William Floyd School District Board of Education held an emergency executive session meeting Monday to discuss security, after a student was arrested for having a loaded gun at William Floyd High School.
The meeting was not open to the public. Items on the agenda included the installation of metal detectors and other security measures.
Security at the school was stepped up Monday morning. School district officials say students were randomly screened with metal detector wands as they entered the building. Suffolk police officers were present near school grounds.
Parent Willie Perez says all students should be searched. Perez feels the random searches could make some students feel singled out.
“They shouldn’t say random because now I feel like they’re targeting certain people. It’s just like when they did the stop and frisk in the city, they were just stopping and frisking African-Americans and Hispanics,” Perez said.
In response to that concern, William Floyd School District spokesperson James Montalto wrote in an email,
“Unfortunately, it is not possible to ‘wand’ 3,000 students in a timely manner.”
Montalto says similar security measures will be in place at the high school on Tuesday.
The school board will hold a public meeting next week.