Minneapolis Catholic school shooting highlights safety, cellphone ban concerns on Long Island
This story was reported by Robert Brodsky, Shari Einhorn, Lorena Mongelli and Darwin Yanes. It was written by Brodsky.
Shara Etergineoso, of Massapequa Park, is constantly concerned about the safety of her three children, including a 17-year-old attending Massapequa High School.
Those worries were heightened Wednesday when a shooter opened fire during a Catholic school Mass in Minneapolis, killing two children sitting in the pews and injuring more than a dozen others.
"We live in a society where you have to be so afraid today to send your kids to school," said Etergineoso, 51, who would like to see metal detectors and armed guards in schools. "I never thought we would be here."
The mass shooting left a pit in the stomach for many Long Island parents as they prepare to begin a new school year after the long summer break.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Some Long Island parents were on edge after two children were killed in a shooting during a Catholic school Mass in Minneapolis and more than a dozen others were injured.
- Parents were divided on a new statewide ban on cellphone use during the school day, with some saying they favored it and others arguing they needed to be able to reach their children during an emergency.
- State Police Superintendent Steven James said student cellphone use during an emergency is a "distraction that could compromise the safety of students and school staff."
"As a parent, it makes you nervous to send your children to school nowadays," Ariel Schuerlein, 32, of Merrick, said during a visit to the Long Island Children's Museum in Uniondale on Friday. Schuerlein said she has three children, ages 8, 3 and 1.
Long Island schools in recent years have instituted enhanced security measures, often in response to acts of mass violence.
For example, Newsday reported last year that at least 20 Island school districts, predominantly in Suffolk County, had hired or were planning to add armed guards to their campuses, in part due to a mass shooting in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.
In addition, Newsday has reported that 450 buildings in Nassau County's 56 school districts are equipped with the RAVE app — essentially a panic button that connects users' phones to 911 dispatchers and gives police access to school cameras.
Meanwhile, just this week Nassau officials announced the creation of a new Police Strategic Response Team to be deployed across the county to quell problems at schools and large public gatherings, while Plainedge High School in Massapequa rolled out a new alert system that sends signals to school security and first responders to expedite their response time in the event of a shooter on site.
"Anytime there's an incident, it's always a sobering reminder of one of the top priorities of every school district, and that's the safety and security of students and staff on their campuses," said Bob Vecchio, executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association. " ... So as districts gear up for the opening day, there's always a review of safety protocols as part of the opening process. But it's a sobering reminder of how much of a priority it is."
Divide over cellphone policy
Contributing to the angst of some worried parents is the new statewide law banning the use of cellphones by students during the school day.
Jennifer DeRosa, a teacher from Dix Hills who has a 15-year-old son going into 10th grade, worries how she'll reach him during an emergency.
"I am very much against it," DeRosa said of the policy. " ... I like to be in contact with him if he needs something, just from something small to obviously a major thing going on. I just feel more comfortable knowing that he could reach me if he needed something, and vice versa."
While hundreds have signed an online petition calling for the law to be revoked or amended, state officials insist the ban will keep students safer.
"The use of mobile phones by students during a quickly developing school emergency is a distraction that could compromise the safety of students and school staff," State Police Superintendent Steven James said in a statement.
Clockwise from top left: Ariel Schuerlein, Heather Nielsen, Shara Etergineoso, Xavier Webber weigh in on school safety after two children were killed in a shooting in Minneapolis this week. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
John Andriaccio, a retired schoolteacher from East Northport who supports the policy change, said while the risk of a school shooting is low, cellphones in schools are becoming "more and more of a problem."
Heather Nielsen, of Port Jefferson, who has an 8-year-old going into third grade and a 5-year-old first grader, said she feels confident that her school district has policies in place to protect her children, but she'd like to see school security guards armed with non-lethal weapons such as a Taser.
"That does bother me, because what are they going to do if there is a gunman? Throw themselves in front of the gunman?" Nielsen asked. "That is an issue for me."
Suffolk County resident Xavier Webber, 33, who has a 4-year-old son entering pre-K, fears the public is becoming "numb" to violence in schools. He believes the answer is changes to gun laws across the nation to protect students.
"Regardless of what the protocols and emergency systems are in schools, if those things don’t change, it’s always going to be a threat," he said.
William Youngfert, a retired Herricks school district teacher from Franklin Square, said his four grandchildren between the ages of 7 and 14 are excited for school.
"I just hope they can come home every day," he said. "It’s just so sad."
