A Jamestown resident wants to know more about the safety of students inside city schools.

Merry Williams-Diers said Tuesday, during open session, to members of the Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education that there should be metal detectors at Jefferson, Persell, and Washington middle schools to prevent weapons from entering buildings.

“We have them at City Hall,” Williams-Diers noted. “We have them at hospitals. Why not at our schools?”

She also addressed the issue of her son’s recent suspension from school. She said her son received an out-of-school suspension for bringing a knife to school.

Williams-Diers also said she attended a hearing for her son, and learned that her son may receive additional out-of-school suspension time.

Williams-Diers posted information to her Facebook account about the hearing detailing the bullying incident that happened to her son on his way home from school, and she said, out of fear, her son brought a knife to school after the incident. She did not mention which school her son attends.

“What my son did was not OK in anybody’s book. However, I have received several messages from previous and current staff at the school stating how well mannered and what a good behaving character my son upholds within the school building,” she told the board.

Now, she told board members, she thinks because of her Facebook post, and an interview with another local media group that JPS Superintendent Kevin Whitaker is showing an act of retaliation by possibly extending her son’s out-of-school suspension.

Board President Paul Abbott commented that during open session the board does not have a dialogue with speakers, but rather board members listen to speakers, and because it was about a certain disciplinary issue, the board could not comment.

“I will tell you that we are bound by law to not discuss individual students, their disciplinary matters, and individual incidents with students,” Abbott said.

The board president also said that social media doesn’t help incidents such as bullying because social media only fans the so-called rumor flames.

“It is unfortunate that people make accusations about how we take seriously, safety, bullying, things of the like,” Abbott said. “shots are taking us on social media, and I find it offensive that there is sentiment that we don’t care. There’s nothing we care about more than the safety of our students.”

Abbott said to other board members, and to members of the public that he encourages people to bring their concerns to the appropriate people within buildings, and he added, that if people feel that they are not being heard, to bring their concerns to the administration.

Whitaker echoed his sentiments.

Whitaker said he understands the emotion that parents have that surrounds issues. School officials, he added, are legally bound by law, to not speak about disciplinary issues in public.

“The best course of action is to contact the people closest to the issue,” Whitaker said.

In March, three students voiced their concerns to the school board about bullying and behavioral issues at Jefferson.

In 2022, the district launched Say Something anonymous reporting system, according to the district’s website jpsny.org.

The system, the website noted, teaches students in grades 6-12, as well as teachers and administrators, how to recognize warning signals and threats on social media, in school, or in their community, of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and report the behavior to a trusted adult or use an anonymous reporting system.

Students and staff have received formal training on how to recognize the signs and threats of at-risk behaviors; take every sign and signal seriously and act quickly to get help by talking to a trusted adult, or report it anonymously to the SS-ARS 24/7/365 Crisis Center via a mobile app, website, or telephone hotline; respond to and manage the submitted tips using a tip management system overseen by a designated school team; and sustain the curriculum and awareness via student clubs, in-school activities, and call-to-action weeks, the website stated.