After Lindenhurst school stabbing, officials consider new security steps
Medics tend to the wounded teen Monday before he was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital. Credit: James Carbone
The Lindenhurst school district is considering new security measures, its board announced Thursday, in the wake of a stabbing in school that critically wounded a 13-year-old boy earlier this week.
In a joint letter to the community, the eight school board members said they are exploring a partnership with a security firm and considering hiring a retired police officer to serve as security director.
Meanwhile, the boy's condition remained stable Thursday, the school district said. He was stabbed Monday by another student, a 12-year-old boy, in the hallway of Lindenhurst Middle School, police said. The teen was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, underwent surgery that day and had been in critical but stable condition. Authorities said Tuesday that he had improved and was in stable condition.
Since Monday, some parents and community members have called on the district to consider security wands and metal detectors, though others have expressed concerns about such measures, board members said in the letter.
They encouraged residents to attend the regularly scheduled board meeting April 12 at 8 p.m. at Lindenhurst High School, where school security will be part of the agenda.
In the letter, the board members said the stabbing was “unforeseen by staff and administration,” but students had information that may have proved helpful in preventing it. District Superintendent Anthony J. Davidson declined to comment Thursday, citing the ongoing investigation.
Board members reminded parents to monitor their children’s use of social media and urged them to report "concerning information" to a trusted adult.
“Research clearly shows technology and social media obstruct empathy,” the letter read in part. “Young people, therefore, struggle to put themselves in another person’s shoes and may post very serious and concerning content they may not if they knew an adult were monitoring.”
School officials across Long Island have grown increasingly concerned over school security in recent months. More districts have hired or are planning to hire armed guards to station outside their buildings, including the Smithtown and South Huntington districts earlier this year.
On Thursday in the Longwood Central School District, Superintendent Lance Lohman told parents its security staff found “an illegal knife” in a high school student’s vehicle. The student was removed from school property “indefinitely,” Lohman said in an email.
Pam Donovan, a spokeswoman for the school district, said the district received a report that led to the search.
In Lindenhurst, the board's letter said the district had already increased prevention measures, including hiring an additional six mental health workers in the last three years and forging partnerships with community groups.
The stabbing coincided with other violent incidents involving students in Uniondale and Riverhead this week: a 17-year-old allegedly slashed two other students in Uniondale High School Monday, and five teens allegedly threatened a Riverhead high schooler with a knife during a robbery attempt and cut him in the chest Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the father of a Central Islip Senior High School student said his 14-year-old daughter was assaulted by another student in school earlier this month.
The suspect in the Lindenhurst incident was arraigned Monday in Family Court and was due back before Judge Fernando Camacho on Friday.
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
