Exclusive: Staten Island school to be part of pilot program to lock front doors

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After years of advocacy by parents and elected officials, the city will launch a small pilot program to lock the front doors of public schools, and P.S. 8 in Great Kills will be one of the four schools chosen for the initial program, according to Assemblyman Michael Reilly.

Reilly said New York City Department of Education (DOE) Director of Security Mark Rampersant unofficially announced the program during a school safety community forum held at P.S. 8 Thursday evening.

“We’ve been asking for the DOE to lock the front doors and put a buzzer system and video capture in so that the school safety agent could see who was entering the building before they let them in,” Reilly told the Advance/SiLive.com. “This is something that I have not stopped advocating for.”

The forum, held by the Assembly Minority Conference School Safety & Security Task Force, was one of several planned across the state to solicit feedback from stakeholders to assist with the development of policy solutions in response to increased acts of violence in schools.

The event was hosted by Reilly (R – South Shore) and Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R – East Shore/Brooklyn), as well as Assemblyman Doug Smith (R – Holbrook). Testimony was heard from representatives of the NYPD, the office of District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, the Archdiocese of New York and District 31 public schools.

Tannousis told the Advance/SiLive.com that one of the main concerns discussed during Thursday’s meeting is how a rise in crime in the community during the past few years has led to an increase of incidents in schools around the city.

“Assemblyman Mike Reilly and I have been very vocal about taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety and well-being of our students, which is why we advocated for the locking of the front doors,” Tannousis said.

LOCKED FRONT DOORS HAVE BEEN ELUSIVE

Following the shooting deaths of 17 people and injury of 17 more in Parkland, Florida in 2018, parent voices calling for locking all of New York City’s public school doors became louder — although advocates have been asking the city to lock doors since at least 2012, following the Sandy Hook, Connecticut school shooting.

“We’re seeing all these shootings in the schools, and with what happened in Florida,” said Jane Kelly more than four years ago, referring to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. She was then the parent of a second-grader at PS 30, Westerleigh. “These are our kids, the least we can do is put a camera and a buzzer. These are our little ones. It’s unfortunate we have to do it, but it’s got to be done.”

Many of the calls were renewed after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas earlier this year that left 19 children and two teachers dead. In May, Schools Chancellor David Banks said he would consider several options to improve school safety, including locking all doors to public schools.

Under the current DOE policy, all doors in school buildings are locked and alarmed except for the front door. The front door is monitored by one or more school safety agents.

Upon entrance to a New York City public school, visitors are required to stop at the…