The Reading School Board has voted unanimously to create 10 additional school safety positions following a recent assault involving two high school students that raised concerns about security at the sprawling school.
The positions — seven 10-month school security guards, one 12-month security guard and two 12-month lead safe school officers — were added to the agenda by a unanimous vote at the start of the meeting last week.
School board President Noahleen Betts said she asked Dr. Khalid N. Mumin, superintendent, to add the positions in response to the incident, which prompted an emotional discussion at a recent committee of the whole meeting.
“We need more school officers to man our hallways and to monitor our cameras,” Betts said.
Betts apologized to the victim and her family and expressed concern about the incident despite the reported progress made in school safety in recent years.
“We were in a good place,” she said. “But I’m beginning to get worried.”
Betts recalled a time when she regularly received videos, photographs and text messages about fights at the high school, often before administrators learned about the incidents.
She said a recent increase in calls and messages made to her reminded her of those earlier problems.
“We are taking this very seriously,” Betts said.
At the Oct. 21 committee of the whole meeting, Jessica Di Blasi, high school principal, and Shawn Stiver, assistant director of safe schools, presented data showing significant improvements in school safety over the past several years.
Disciplinary referrals declined 25.4%, from 5,601 in the 2021-22 school year to 4,177 in 2025-26. Fighting incidents decreased 48.1% over four years, and first-quarter fighting incidents dropped from 18 in 2023-24 to three this school year.
Despite those improvements, staffing remains a concern.
Stiver reported that Reading High has 22 authorized safe-schools guard positions, but only 14 guards were filled at the time, with one on medical leave. Transfers, pending bids and new hires undergoing background checks could increase staffing to approximately 19.
Board member Yajaira Stone questioned whether even the full complement of 22 guards would be sufficient for a building with more than 5 miles of hallways.
The school’s security system includes 317 interior and exterior camera views, with one guard assigned to monitor camera feeds.
Surveys conducted following the assault also revealed concerns about hallway supervision, crowded transitions between classes, bathroom safety and inconsistent discipline.
Di Blasi said nearly half of the 458 students surveyed, 48%, disagreed that discipline was applied consistently.
Mumin cautioned last week against characterizing the incident as evidence of a broader safety crisis.
“This is not a crisis,” he said, pointing to the decline in disciplinary incidents.
Still, board members emphasized that the improving statistics do not diminish the seriousness of what happened to the student.
“We cannot forget the victim, and that’s why you’re here this evening,” Betts told Di Blasi and Stiver last week.
Di Blasi acknowledged the emotional toll of the incident.
“At the end of the day, this happened on my watch,” she said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Betts said the district will continue examining safety concerns at the district’s other schools.
She has invited administrators to present a report on safety at Central Middle School at another meeting.
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