Parents speak out after Gananda false shooter claim

GANANDA, N.Y. (WHEC) – Gananda Superintendent of Schools met with anxious parents Tuesday night. They had a lot of questions after a lockdown last week at Gananda Middle School. An 8th grader is charged for falsely reporting a person was inside the school with a gun.

News10NBC heard from parents and found out about some improvements being made to school safety protocols.

Dr. Shawn Van Scoy told us the primary goal was to give parents a chance to engage in conversation about what happened last week, and about safety matters in the district.

"I don’t ever want to experience the fear that I felt over the past couple of weeks, because the very thought that my child could be in danger, I almost died inside," said Jacqie Pentland as she arrived for the meeting.

Parents of Gananda school students had a lot of questions they wanted to be answered regarding last Friday’s lockdown at Gananda Middle School. Tuesday night they met with Superintendent Van Scoy, as well as the Wayne County Sheriff, and Macedon Police.

Jessica Cole tells us the meeting was informative.

"There’s certain information that we would like to know regarding the actual incidents, and individuals, and not just precautions," said Cole.

The lockdown happened after an 8th grader falsely reported someone had a gun in school.

"So it would’ve been nice to know a few more actual details about the incident that they were able to, but they were transparent as I believe they could be," said Cole.

We asked Van Scoy about the student who was arrested on Monday. He couldn’t comment. We also asked him what sort of safety and security protocol changes will be made in the district following this incident. Besides having an increased police presence at all schools, Van Scoy says other measures are in the works.

"We are having conversations about how to improve our cell phone systems, and how to respond and engage with cell phones. How to improve our walkie-talkie system, and to improve our lock systems for our door locks," said Van Scoy.

The school district also has a school resource officer who works there for part of the week, provided by the Macedon Police Department.