Armed Guards Added To Farmingdale School District

FARMINGDALE, NY — Armed guards will be added to the Farmingdale School District, Superintendent Paul Defendini told the community in a letter obtained by Patch.

Armed security is "expressly forbidden" from entering any school buildings unless called upon to deal with an active shooter, Defendini said. This includes during shift changes, bathroom breaks, and lunch or dinner breaks, he said.

One of the district's goals for the 2023-24 school year was to consider adding armed guards to the District Wide Safety Plan, Defendini wrote.

"Since September, a thoughtful and hardworking group of students, staff, and parents have volunteered their time to consider a variety of perspectives and research on this topic," Defendini said. "This included reviewing surveys that were sent out earlier in the year to solicit insights from our students, staff, and parents alike."

The decision to add armed guards was made by the board of education after "careful consideration of all the data," the superintendent said. Parents/guardians, students and staff were all in favor of armed security, according to the board of education.

The school board said it will not share further details about the implementation of armed security to avoid "compromising the plan's integrity." It will not reveal the number of armed security staff, their locations, patterns, or any other information that would "undermine the goal of augmenting security measures for our schools."

"The safety and well-being of our students, staff, and visitors are of the utmost importance to the
Farmingdale School District," the board of education wrote.

Introducing armed guards is a "proactive measure" to safeguard the school community, the board wrote.

"Our primary goal is to maintain a positive and nurturing learning environment for all students," the board stated. "Security measures will be implemented discreetly to minimize disruption to the educational experience. Armed security will be comprised of carefully selected, trained professionals with experience in law enforcement or relevant security positions. We will ensure that those entrusted with serving our Daler community as armed security possess the necessary expertise to effectively handle security-related situations. They will bring a high level of expertise to enhance the safety and security of our schools."

South Huntington School District added armed guards in January 2023 and was followed by Smithtown in February 2023.