STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A three-inch folding knife was confiscated from a student at Morris Intermediate School (I.S. 61) in Brighton Heights Monday, a source told the Advance/SILive.com.
The box cutter was seen by another student who reported it to school safety agents, the source said, who added that the student’s parent was notified of the incident.
The city Department of Education (DOE) said it would be providing support for the school following the incident.
“School must be safe havens for learning, and this item was immediately and safely recovered,” said Nathanial Styer, a DOE spokesman. “There is no place for weapons in our schools, and we are providing I.S. 61 with additional support.”
Safety in schools has been a fraught topic recently amid talks to reimagine the role of school safety officers.
Ongoing proposals in the City Council have sparked frustration both from reform advocates who say changes will not go far enough to alter disproportionate policing practices and from school safety agents who believe that their presence is essential to creating a safe school environment.
Gregory Floyd, the president of Local 237, the union that represents the city’s school safety agents, said, “The school safety agents are the foundation of the schools, and you will see a sharp decline in order once that’s removed.”