KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Parents packed Thursday night's Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education meeting, demanding answers after a loaded handgun was discovered in a student's backpack at Kalamazoo Central High School last week.
The concerns come less than a week after a 16-year-old student was arrested for bringing a loaded firearm into the school.
According to district officials, the weapon was recovered after another student reported it to an adult.
While parents expressed relief that the gun was found before anyone was hurt, many questioned how the school's weapon detection system failed to identify the firearm when the student entered the building and criticized what they described as a lack of transparency from the district about how the weapon entered the school and whether established safety procedures were followed.
"Parents deserve answers, not excuses. We deserve transparency, not silence," one parent told board members during public comment.
"What good is the security system if we're not identifying what is setting off the alarm?" asked parent Nicole Phillips.
Parents also called on district leaders to provide more details about what happened and what steps are being taken to keep students safe moving forward.
"We want to know how this weapon entered the building, what policies were in place, whether those policies were followed, and what actions are being taken to address any failures," another parent said.
For Phillips, the uncertainty has been enough to keep her child at home.
"I haven't sent him to school at all this week because of fears, because I haven't received communication from the school letting me know how they are going to prevent this from happening in the future," Phillips said.
District leaders addressed questions about the weapon detection system during the meeting, acknowledging they do not yet know why the firearm was not identified.
"A big question, even for me, was how could a weapon detector miss a gun?" Kalamazoo Public Schools superintendent Dr. Darrin Slade said.
School officials outlined several possible explanations, including the material used in the firearm and sensitivity settings within the detection system. However, district leaders said they do not yet have a definitive answer. In response, Kalamazoo Public Schools plans to increase the sensitivity levels on its weapon detection systems.
"We are going to turn all our weapon detectors up to a higher level, so weapons can be detected," Slade said.
Parents at Thursday's meeting said they appreciate the district taking action but believe more accountability and transparency are needed.
"We need answers. We need action. We need accountability, and we need it now," a parent said.
Kalamazoo Public Schools is scheduled to hold a community meeting on October 28 to further discuss school security protocols and student safety.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
