PATERSON — The number of weapons confiscated at Paterson schools more than doubled last year, an increase officials attributed to the installation of six metal detectors at student entrances.
Weapon seizures at city schools jumped from 13 in the 2021-22 school year to 29 in the 2022-23 school year, according to a report given by the district security supervisor, Steve Olimpio, at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.
Metal detectors appear to have made a difference
Last year’s weapons haul included 23 pocketknives, three chemical sprays, two guns, one set of brass knuckles and one Taser, according to the report. Olimpio said having metal detectors at all high schools was a major factor in the jump.
“We were able to catch a lot more weapons that were sneaking in,” he told the school board.
The district last winter bought six new metal detectors for Paterson’s high schools after two guns were found in a December 2022 incident at John F. Kennedy High School. Before that, Kennedy and some other smaller high schools did not have metal detectors.
Board of Education members express concern about fights
School board members didn’t speak about the weapons at Monday’s meeting. But several expressed skepticism about the numbers of student fights and marijuana vape seizures listed in the report.
Olimpio said Paterson schools had 121 violence incidents in 2022-23, including 54 assaults, 33 threats and 29 fights, The previous year, the security supervisor said, there were 127 violence incidents, but he did not provide a breakdown.
Board member Della McCall questioned the accuracy of a report listing just 29 fights for the year in a district with more than 50 schools and almost 30,000 students.
“It just doesn’t sound right, it doesn’t feel right, and it isn’t right,” McCall said, noting that the daily school incidents board members get reported more than 29 fights.
McCall said that underreporting the number of fights could hurt the district’s chances of getting funding.
“If we need help in our schools, how are we going to get it if we don’t have the real true numbers?” she asked. “I want to make sure our kids are getting everything they need, and they can only get it if we are getting real information.”
Board member Jonathan Hodges suggested the district review the daily incident reports cited by McCall to compile data that could be compared with the numbers in the violence reports.
District administration officials did not respond to the board’s misgivings about the violence numbers.
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Questions about marijuana seizures
McCall and others expressed similar doubts about the report showing 55 marijuana vapes being seized last year. McCall noted that during a visit to a Paterson school she saw jars containing almost that many vapes that were seized at just the one building.
Laurel Olson, the district’s student support services supervisor, said the report details only the number of vapes with cannabis that are confiscated, not the total for all types of vapes.
McCall was unconvinced.
“I just don’t see 55 marijuana pens being to me a real number,” she said.
The cannabis vape seizures also increased last year, rising from 15 in 2021-22, according to the report.
Olimpio said the metal detectors were a factor in the growing number of vapes being confiscated. He also noted that the district is in the process of acquiring vape detectors for school bathrooms. He said “privacy concerns” preclude security guards from just walking into the restrooms.
“That will be a big, big thing for us to be able to detect anyone smoking in the bathrooms,” Olimpio said of the devices being purchased.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
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