Hamden Public Schools talks student security in community forum

The Hamden Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships Council held a community forum on Zoom on Thursday night to discuss Hamden Public Schools’ after-action review following a student bringing a loaded gun to the high school last month. 

In the forum, the Hamden SPCP clarified the events that occurred on Oct. 5, discussed the district’s response and plan in the future and answered questions from attendees.

The council addressed questions regarding the order of events during the “stay-in-place” procedure, which limited students’ movement in the hallway and kept them in their classrooms. 

The goal of a “stay-in-place” procedure is to isolate a situation and allow time to decide further action. Hamden Middle School Principal Dan Levy spoke about the procedure.

“The stay in place secure school is response mode that secures the school,” Levy said. “No one enters or leaves, doors are locked, students are in rooms, staff are in rooms and everyone essentially is ready to respond to the next step.” 

Jody Goeler, Hamden Public Schools superintendent, said in the forum that the high school principal, Nadine Gannon, did not immediately engage the school resource office (SRO) when it was discovered the student had a weapon, but attempted to de-escalate the situation, as she had a rapport with the student.

The council also discussed preventative measures in the future regarding metal detectors.

“We essentially have, at the high school, over 1,700 metal detectors,” Goeler said. “We have the eyes and ears of students.”

Goeler said that the district tries to create a healthy climate for the student body.

“Metal detectors don’t provide that kind of level of trust, and human intelligence, that helps us,” Goeler said.

William Onofrio, a Hamden Police detective, said that the police department does have metal detectors available for the high school to use, though the decision to bring them into the high school is at the district’s discretion.

Currently, the high school has one SRO that is available to Hamden Middle School when needed, but the district is planning for more. 

“We are slated for two SROs at the high school and one SRO at the middle school,” Goeler said.

The Hamden SPCP encourages any community members to contact hamdenspcp@gmail.com with questions and concerns.