Following an incident at Castor Gardens Middle School when two staff members were hurt in a stabbing involving an 11-year-old student, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has demanded a thorough investigation. The union has called the incident a “epic administrative failure,” pointing to mistakes in security that let the student enter the building with a knife. A 63-year-old lady and a 31-year-old woman suffered minor injuries as a consequence of the stabbing, which happened on Tuesday at around noon, according to 6abc.
Union officials praised paraprofessional Rasheima Hainey’s courage in warning coworkers about the danger. In a statement obtained by NBC Philadelphia, PFT President Arthur Steinberg said, “I want to commend Rasheima Hainey, a paraprofessional who is one of our members, who ran down the hallway while the assailant was on the loose looking for more people to stab, alerting staff members in their rooms not to open the door.” The youngster managed to go through with the knife in spite of the security measures in place, like metal detectors, which the union refers to as chronic disinvestment and a lack of resources that affect school safety.
Steinberg has sent the union’s requests for a revision of security procedures to Superintendent Dr. Tony Watlington Sr. “I’m not going to disclose it right now until the superintendent has had a chance to address and react to the school-level failing. Don’t worry, though; I’ll let you know if they don’t do what we think is right,” Steinberg told NBC Philadelphia. In order to stop similar tragedies in the future, the union is advocating for proactive administration, better equipment, and changes in employee performance.
The Philadelphia School District released a statement after the incident that discussed the inquiry and the school’s use of metal detectors. “When the student entered the building, he did go through a free-standing, minimally invasive metal detector. The detector is being inspected by school safety officers. Every middle and high school in the district has metal detectors, according to a statement from district spokesperson Monique Braxton that NBC Philadelphia was able to get. The Office of School Safety is presently evaluating district safety protocols and investigating how the knife was missed.
After the stabbing, the community voiced concerns, with students allegedly feeling uncomfortable and wondering if the offender would come again. Since they didn’t receive any alerts, they were also worried about whether the child would return to the building. Would they be secure? According to LeShawna Coleman, chief of staff at the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, “teachers did everything they could to reassure them and let them know that they were safe with them and that everything would be OK,” she told CBS News Philadelphia. As part of its response, the union hopes that the incident could have been avoided if the student involved had received the necessary professional support.
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