On Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the Sayville Middle School auditorium, the school district held a meeting on the possibility of installing armed guards at the perimeter of school buildings.

Nearly 150 parents requested to attend and engage in small-group discussions led by a member of the school district about:

• Security measures that are adequate and should be continued
• Physical security measures, e.g., safety components of windows, doors
• Current armed guards proposal presented by the superintendent and board of education
• Mental health measures and programs to support students.

The proposal for armed guards, estimated to cost $450,000 to $600,000,  was developed after board members and the superintendent met with private security firms.

Specifically, the perimeter guards proposal would include:

• Two armed guards stationed at the high school and middle school
• One armed guard stationed at each elementary school
• Use of concealed weapons
• Use of unmarked vehicles
• Uniformed guard with distinguishing feature to alert Suffolk County Police Department in the event of an emergency
• Coverage throughout school day hours with options for special events, e.g. homecoming, graduation

Currently, there are 51 unarmed guards employed by the school district, with 50 of those guards formerly employed in law enforcement. During the day, three guards patrol the elementary schools and two shifts of three guards each patrol the high school.

Wayne Simone, head of security for the school district, discussed video surveillance upgrades to the district with additional cameras added each year.

Simone went through the current procedures and safety measures in place for active shooter scenarios and the preparation exercises completed by staff members.

Simone said that two years ago, all staff were made to participate in the active shooter drill and that the exercise was recorded and training was available to any current staff.

The Rave app, which teachers and other school personnel have on their phone, is a communication system that can alert law enforcement immediately of an active situation.

Different scenarios in schools call for staff and students to:

• Hold in place, where access to the building is restricted and traffic flow is stopped
• Evacuate, in cases of a fire, or chemical spill, the school would be directed to go out to the field
• Lockout, where police are in the area and no one can leave or enter the building
• Lockdown, the most drastic scenario where students and teachers lockdown in their classrooms.

Lt. Greg Heller of the SCPD 5th Precinct described “park walk and talks,” where police officers in patrol cars walk through schools and speak with security guards familiar with the schools to become acquainted with the layout.

Heller described what protocols are practiced in regular SCPD exercises of active shooter drills where the first police officer is tasked with engaging the threat and possibly neutralizing the threat.

Response times for the SCPD are not made public according to security reasons, said Heller, but gave a scenario of two sector vehicles patrolling that could arrive within seconds depending on the street location of the vehicle.

Gillian Mathers presented the Mental Health and Wellness portion of the presentation.

Licensed professionals (i.e., social workers) are available in each school building who collaborate with a myriad of organizations for mental health issues and having ongoing partnerships lasting years.

While Mathers said it was difficult to quantify the impact the mental health initiatives had, she said there was ample anecdotal evidence of students reaching out for help in scenarios that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable.

Mathers also explained that all school-issued Chromebooks have the Go Guardian feature that reports to a team in the district should a student be presenting to be a harm to themselves or others.

Parents became vocal about armed guards after a former Sayville student posted multiple remarks on social media that threatened mass harm to students and community members in mid-November and purportedly again in the new year.

After the data and feedback from the 18 discussion groups held after the presentation are compiled, the findings will be presented to the board on the Jan. 9 meeting. Next steps, such as funding for the added cost in the annual budget should the proposal move forward, will be announced after analysis of the findings.