DORCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - A teacher’s union and several city leaders held a rally outside a Dorchester school Wednesday where a principal was attacked and knocked unconscious earlier this month.
Just a month after Henderson Inclusion School Principal Patricia Lampron was attacked by a student, local union leaders called on Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius to provide them with a safety action plan.
The union especially wants the superintendent to increase security, fix security cameras and use metal detectors that they say are currently unplugged at the school.
“Security cameras at this facility haven’t been in operation for two years,” SEIU Local 888 President Tom McKeever said.
The union leaders were joined by several Boston city councilors and parents of students who attend the school They say staff, students and parents are concerned now more than ever about their safety.
“This tragedy can happen again,” McKeever said.
Jonathan Palumbo, a spokesperson for Boston Public Schools, said they are working to address these concerns.
“We asked our deputy superintendent of operations and his team to look at the entire district to figure out — are there issues with security cameras that need to be addressed? Do we need to update, do we need to upgrade them, do we need to make sure they’ve been maintained,” he said.
Palumbo said they are also working to get more school resource officers and come up with a plan on how police can handle emergencies.
“We want to make sure the message is, this is about school safety, not about punishing students or criminalizing students along the way,” he said.
City councilors say they have heard of fights at the school, daily.
“If teachers don’t feel safe, if the staff does not feel safe, if students don’t feel safe, we’re not able to teach the students,” Councilor-At-Large Erin Murphy said.
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