Perth Amboy High School on April 17 debuted the use of metal detectors, a security measure that Perth Amboy Federation President Pat Paradiso describes as “a good thing.”
“I know it’s going to be difficult, but you can’t have kids with weapons in school,” Paradiso told News 12 New Jersey in a segment that aired April 17.
She added, “We knew there were weapons in the school because the teachers were telling us. Teachers had found knives in the kids’ bookbags and stuff.”
PAHS is not an outlier in the district: Perth Amboy Federation members have voiced concern about students bringing weapons into other school buildings, too. That subject was among the many discussed Feb. 13 during a safety-themed PAF member meeting at Samuel E. Shull Middle School. Nine days later, while on his way home, authorities say 11-year-old Smailyn Jimenez was stabbed by a fellow Shull student following a confrontation they had at the school. The attack prompted community outcry about school safety.