Thursday, October 1, 2026
While Freeport residents and community leaders agree that school safety and security should be a high priority for both the village and the school district, many disagree on how to maintain that security. Since the Herald reported the appearance of large walk-through metal detectors at the high school on April 20, there has been much debate on whether such machinery is necessary or appropriate for district schools.
How secure are Freeport schools? Are order and safety maintained at a level where extra security measures would be a luxury? Or is more vigilance needed in a country with seemingly omnipresent school shootings and violence?
The primary complaint about the metal detectors was that few people were aware of their purchase. All five school board trustees denied ever approving or having knowledge of such a purchase. The board, led by President Sunday Coward, told the public that it would investigate the matter in the hope of preventing any further confusion. The board had not provided a public update on its investigation as the Herald went to press.
Beyond the mismanagement, Coward and her fellow trustees loudly voiced their displeasure with the very existence of metal detectors in Freeport schools, stating that they were “livid,” and regarded the potential use of detectors on students and staff as virtually inhumane. At a board meeting last month, Coward made it clear that she felt the metal detectors send a negative message to the school community, especially students, and that their use would encourage a “school-to-prison pipeline.”
“I apologize to the community that we had people who even thought those things belonged in our school,” Coward said. “That tells me that we’ve got to do a lot of training here. Our kids are not inmates. We will never treat them as such.”
Michael Pomerico, the board’s newest trustee, and trustees-elect Gabriela Castillo and Edward Gordon, who will join the board in July, have all publicly stated that they are opposed to the use of large, freestanding metal detectors in the schools.
In a statement to the Herald, the Freeport Teachers Association also expressed its opposition to the detectors, but said its members welcome future conversations about school safety.
The detectors “do not represent the culture and learning environment the board, district and building administration and educators of Freeport schools strive to create every day in our classrooms,” district spokesman Ron Edelson told the Herald on behalf of the board.
That opinion is not universally shared in the village, however. Some residents said they were puzzled by the district’s staunch opposition to metal detectors after reading the Herald’s reporting.
“There are metal detectors at airports, Disneyland and other venues to ensure guests and their children are safe without any negative impacts except for the time it takes to get through security,” resident Michael Dash said on Facebook in response to the news of the metal detector incident. “This successful use of metal detectors seems to contradict the outrage over installing them at schools. Don’t children in school deserve to be as safe as children at Disneyland?”
Another resident, Peggy Lester, said on Facebook, “Metal detectors are a responsible idea for Freeport schools. Why would anyone be opposed to them? I question the motives of anyone who is against protecting the kids as well as the adults affected.”
Others pointed to rising rates of school violence in other areas of the country as a justification for equipment like metal detectors.
But others agreed with the administration. “Freeport High School has a wonderful student community,” Neetika Prabhakar said on Facebook. “The sweetest kids you could hope to meet. They don’t need metal detectors.”
The district reports incidents of weapons possession and gun violence, as does the Freeport Police Department also collects such reports. According to Edelson and the district, there were seven incidents in three district schools during the 2020-21 school year, none in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and one in 2023-24. Edelson added that recent data is not readily available yet, and that the numbers cited can be found on the State Education Department website.
The Herald reported this year that Freeport schools have a notably lower rate of bullying, drug incidents and violence than other New York school districts with similar student populations, according to state data.
The accuracy and reliability of the district’s reporting has been questioned by some residents and families. Notably, one incident of a student bringing a firearm into Freeport High School in June 2023, which would fall in the 2022-23 school year, appears to be missing from the district’s reports.
By contrast, the Freeport P.D. provided the Herald with 51 case numbers for incidents of violence and weapons possession in district schools since 2021. In response to questions regarding any guidance the police department can provide to the school district, the police department said it defers to the district’s judgment on how the schools should be secured.
“The police should be notified of any incident involving a weapon on school grounds,” a spokesperson told the Herald on behalf of the department. “The Police Department will provide an expedited response and instruct personnel based on the specific details of the incident.”
Asked if gang activity and youth violence are prominent concerns for safety in Freeport and its schools, the department declined to answer, but the school district did.
“Freeport schools [have] no history of gang activity, gun or any other weapons violence that has ever elevated to a level of concern or reason to change our safety and security measures and protocols,” Edelson told the Herald on behalf of the school board.
When asked about concerns about the rates of U.S. gun violence and school shootings, Edelson wrote in response that while it was a “disturbing” trend, the district does not consider the addition of metal detectors to be “an appropriate response to this concern.”
The statement continued, “The security measures the district has in place, combined with the professionalism of our security personnel and our collaboration with the Community Affairs Department of Freeport provide the district with a high level of safety and security for our students, faculty and all school visitors.”
The boards comments via Edelson concluded by stating that its current security measures are constantly reviewed by district personnel, and that if it decides to make any modifications or additions, the community will be notified.
