Penfield School Board meetings will have new security measures after threatening messages, parents share their thoughts

PENFIELD, N.Y. — The Penfield Central School District is implementing new security measures for its board meetings.

This comes after attendees of a meeting clashed with board members in February over illustrations in a book at the elementary school library called “The Rainbow Parade”. Since then, the district leaders have received hate mail and threatening messages.

“It was just astonishing,” said Danielle Alchowiak, a Penfield parent and member of the Penfield AntiRacist Alliance. “It absolutely floored me to see these words coming from our community members, and that other community members didn’t really see a problem with the words.”

Another Penfield parent and member of the alliance Meghan Callan said these messages going to district leaders is “shocking and yet not shocking.”

Going forward, anyone who wants to speak must email the district clerk ahead of time. Public comment will be limited to people who are parents of current students, employees, or Penfield residents.

In addition, new security measures will begin on April 8 in partnership with Blackhawk Security & Investigations, Inc. Meeting attendees must go through metal detectors and checks for their purses and bags. Armed security guards will be stationed at the front door and inside the meeting.

The district also says it’s revising its policy on guns for security guards. With written authorization of the superintendent, the district’s safety and security coordinator and Blackhawk Security guards may carry a concealed gun. In addition to being at meetings, Blackhawk Security guards will patrol schools and check in daily with principals starting on March 17. They’ll also provide security for district events.

News10NBC spoke with many parents, some thinking the extra security is appropriate, while one parent said it was “overkill.” Another parent said the district is in a “lose-lose situation,” as they are doing too much if there are no threats but not enough for when something does happen.

Callan said that although nobody really wants to put these measures in place, but they understand it is a decision they had to make due to the threats.

“There’s a real fine line between criminality and ill intent and bullying and harassing,” said Callan. “So, we we support those decisions to be able to have those safety measures in place for everybody involved.”

The district says that, if anyone causes a disruption at a meeting, they’ll be asked to leave and be escorted out if they don’t comply.