Heidenreich said that this would be a welcome enhancement to the district’s security tools, but procedures need to be developed governing who has the panic buttons and where they are kept. He pointed out that the schools continue to practice lockout and lockdown drills, and the principals have attended intruder alert workshops hosted by Nassau County.

Fale said that Long Island schools as a whole have made significant improvements in security over the past year. “Every district has to do a plan that best meets its needs because of the uniqueness of the buildings,” he said, “but there are a lot of commonalities.”

School officials say they need to strike a balance between keeping a community’s schools open and inviting places, and providing adequate security to keep students and staff safe. They don’t want prisons, but they want to be vigilant. Both images influence their thinking when they address security enhancements. “There’s a fine line between security,” Brosnan said, “and turning the place into a fortress.”