Brockton Public Schools are beefing up security this week after a student was arrested for bringing a gun to school Friday, prompting an hours long lockdown.
Students and parents can expect delays as well as heavy police presence at school Tuesday, including at building entrances. The officers are expected to stay on site for the entire day.
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Students will be directed to use designated doors to enter their respective buildings, with separate lines set up for students with bags. School officials worked with the Brockton Police Department to implement the use of hand-held metal detectors at the entrances.
"We will devise a plan to determine how long to keep enhanced security measures in place or set a time to reassess the enhanced measures," the district said.
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Superintendent Michael Thomas will be on site throughout the morning, he said in a statement, and he will evaluate the need for these added safety measures after this week. Officials are expected to give an update Tuesday afternoon.
The Brockton High School student was arrested on Friday for allegedly bringing a gun to school. It is unclear if the student has been charged.
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No staff or students were threatened, according to a statement from the Brockton Public Schools. The high school was put on a roughly 90-minute lockdown out of caution while the school was swept, and students were eventually dismissed early.
Mayor Robert Sullivan and Superintendent Michael Thomas told reporters that other students heard about the gun and reported it to a teacher, which led to the student being escorted to an office. The gun was found in a bag.
“It was never shown. It was reported," Thomas said. "Students reported to a teacher that they heard another student had a gun.”
"The mantra is, 'If you see something, say something,' and two students did just exactly that," Sullivan said.
Asked if the incident was disturbing, Thomas said, "Of course it's disturbing, and nobody wants a gun in their school, especially a school where there's over 5,000 people that come into it every day, but again, we train for these moments and I'm proud of how it was handled."
Asked why investigators believe the student brought the gun to the school, Thomas said he didn't know, and that remains under investigation.
With over 4,300 students, Brockton High School doesn't have metal detectors, Thomas said. It took the rest of the day Friday to sweep all the school's facilities.
The district has had incidents involving weapons in the past, but Thomas noted that it's important for administrators to take care its students.
"There's a fine line between having a school and... a prison," he said, after repeatedly emphasizing that staff and students train for scenarios like the one that played out Friday.
