Boston City Councilors Call for Metal Detectors, Police at Schools

As violence within the Boston Public School System continues, four city councilors are now calling for metal detectors and police officers to be placed inside every district school.

The letter was sent to Superintendent Mary Skipper and the Mayor’s Office.

Too many disturbing incidents at @BostonSchools. I co-signed a letter to the Mayor & @svilleskipper calling for metal detectors & police to be reinstated into our schools for the safety of our students, our staff and all of our BPS families. #safety #actionnotjustwords #bospoli pic.twitter.com/aHiS48CKWW

— Erin Murphy (@ErinforBoston) January 6, 2023

“You see time and time again we have young kids coming to school with loaded guns, we have stabbings, we have fights in bathrooms,” said Boston City Councilor At-Large Erin Murphy.  “The violence is escalating and we need to address it.”

“We have metal detectors. It’s just that many schools had chosen to not plug them in, or not use them,” she added.

Last week, a teacher was reportedly walking a bullied student home from the Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School in Mattapan when the two of them were jumped and beaten.

“While they were walking home, I got reports right away from first responders that the teacher was attacked, kicked repeatedly in the head and she was trying to protect – shielding her body on the student – and we didn’t hear anything,” said Murphy.

On Tuesday, a parent outside of the school told NBC10 Boston that his fourth-grade daughter saw it happen.

“She saw a teacher get beat up, and she was a little nervous to get back to school,” said Dana Woods. “There definitely should be a police presence out here.”

Woods added that next week, he’s pulling his daughter out of the school to go to a charter school.

“We didn’t hear good things about the school as far as the violence and stuff, so we dealt with it as long as we could.”

City Council President Ed Flynn is another official supporting the safety changes, reiterating that the district is still not being open and honest about violent incidents taking place.

“Public safety is an important part of education in Boston and America today unfortunately we have to consider these options,” said Flynn.

He added that in addition to social services and counselors, more needs to be done.

“If we save the life of one person by confiscating a weapon through the medical detectors, it’s worth it.”

NBC10 Boston did reach out to Boston Public Schools with several questions and request for a statement, but was told the district would not comment.

Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.