New Kensington-Arnold district setting up task force after ammunition found at Valley High School
Two weeks after a live round of ammunition was found at Valley High School, the district is setting up something called a “discipline task force.”
The news of the three-hour lockdown on Feb. 13 was a shock for many parents.
“My initial thought was thank god it’s just a bullet and not the actual weapon,” said Aldon Pryor, a New Kensington parent.
K-9s swept the building that day, and police reviewed the surveillance video. They also interviewed the students seen entering or leaving that restroom. They have no leads as to how that live round ended up in the school.
“I feel like they handled it the right type of way,” Pryor said.
In the two weeks since that lockdown, the district tells Channel 11 it has “procedurally amped up security measures through screening and attentiveness to detail.”
Now it is launching something called a “discipline task force” made up of the superintendent, three school board members, and four teachers union members.
The superintendent tells Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek the task force will look at the district’s “practices and procedures related to “K-12 discipline.”
In a statement to Channel 11, Superintendent Dr. Christopher Sefcheck said, “The New Kensington-Arnold School District is 100% committed to exploring all angles that may have an impact on school safety and security. Maintaining a safe and orderly school is always the goal.”
Pryor said he is glad the school is still taking this seriously.
“From a standpoint of them being students, no matter what, when they step outside of home, they’re secure in school,” he said.
Channel 11 reached out to members of the school board but did not hear back. The Pennsylvania State Education Association – the union that represents the teachers at New Kensington-Arnold School District – declined to comment.
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