Kudos to South Huntington School District for agreeing to have armed officers on campus to protect children within their schools. This is something Long Island Life and Politics has been pushing since our inception.
The armed personnel will not be in the school building. Nevertheless, they are present on campus if an armed intruder were able to reach the perimeter and try to create havoc within school grounds.
Our police departments do a fantastic job in responding very quickly, but in this situation it’s not minutes that count, it is seconds.
Schools are awash in money since the federal government gave them billions of dollars for Covid-related spending. However, only 10% of it was spent on Covid related matters. The remainder is floating around in escrows and being diverted to for non-Covid purposes. Schools should ensure that enough money is secured for this armed protection.
South Huntington is taking the lead. Montauk, Tuckahoe and West Babylon have also wisely gone the route of protecting students using armed officers. Now it’s time for all the other districts on Long Island to follow suit.
The biggest joke of all is when naive do-gooders say we should oppose armed police at schools because schools should be “gun-free zones.” But, of course, people who want to kill others don’t really care about your signs or your designations. When they get there with their guns and don’t encounter anyone to stop them, they kill our kids. It’s time to be proactive and protect our children.
Long Island Life and Politics has been adamant in our editorializing on this topic. We are delighted our local officials are taking heed.