Pols call for action after intruder enters Darby school
DARBY BOROUGH >> The Delaware County Black Caucus is asking that school safety be looked at again in the William Penn School District after a man with a loaded gun made its way into one of its school buildings on Jan. 4.
A press conference with over a dozen members of the non-profit caucus organization at Darby Borough Hall Wednesday night sent the message that a security threat to hundreds of children in any one of its schools – the population of which is mostly persons of color – should not occur after a perceived lax response to a potentially dangerous situation at Park Lane Elementary School on Friday.
“There is concern within the black community that existing protocols, school safety support systems and district policy for staff and students are currently insufficient,” said Bonnee Bentum, chair of the DCBC’s education committee. “The DCBC urges the district to improve the implementation of an actionable plan addressing school safety and how incidents are communicated to families and the public.”
Community members on Friday had said they were given no notice of the alleged security breach at the school when a shirtless man named Nazher Sabree was buzzed into the front office at approximately 9 a.m. inquiring about a bag that fell. Unbeknownst to school Principal Dawnee Watson-Bouie and a school security officer was that he was allegedly carrying a gun.
According to a statement released by the district, the gun was not seen in their presence before being ushered out of the school for off behavior. Darby Police Chief Robert Smythe said in reviewing surveillance footage it would not have been noticeable to an untrained person that the gun was in Sabree’s pocket.
“If you know what you’re looking for you can see an object in the pocket that we would know what it is,” Smythe said. “To be fair, maybe they wouldn’t know about it.”
Because Watson-Bouie did not know Sabree was an armed intruder, says the district, the panic button was not utilized to immediately alert police.
After Sabree was removed from the school he was seen roaming around on school grounds. He was arrested by Darby police around 12:30 p.m. in front of the school after a chase on school grounds and neighboring streets. When a gun was located, Watson-Bouie put the school on lockdown and a letter was sent home to parents notifying them of the incident. Marijuana was also allegedly found on Sabree when he was arrested.
Sierra Morton is a parent who said she heard about the incident on the news instead of immediate correspondence by the district.
“Nobody contacted parents enough,” she said. “I should have gotten notified, parents should have been notified ... There was no answer as to why the principal didn’t push the (panic) button.”
As a parent of a fifth-grade student with Attention Deficit Disorder, Morton said she feared sending her child back to school this week, but he did return.
“I expect him to be in good hands when he’s going to school, not hearing on the news that there’s an armed man with drugs and a gun on him in my son’s school,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Not using the school’s panic button was much to the chagrin of parents, Smythe and state Sen. Anthony Williams, D-8 of Philadelphia, who feel that the presence of a gun on school grounds was reason enough to press it.
“Monday morning quarterbacking, should it have been hit? Yeah,” said Smythe. “It’s for armed intruders; it’s common sense.”
Williams said the district’s reaction has been “woefully inadequate” to the incident thus far.
“Regardless of how one describes the facts, there was a gun in an elementary school among children,” said Williams. “The fact that a child, staff member, any individual in the school was not shot is not the point. There are a number of yellow and red flags that waved themselves of the public and there’s a lot of evidence to that point, which should have immediately led to parents being informed on that day.”
A person walking around shirtless on school property, a person allowed access to the building without adequate reason and someone moving outside in a suspicious manner are three red flags Williams said shows the lack of proactive safety measures to get the police more quickly involved.
“We are going to be very clear that there needs to be retraining, and introduction of training that is clearly not present today,” said Williams. “Most importantly, and tragically, parents were not notified in a responsible, timely manner. The standard by which most of America talks about an alarming concern for school safety seems to be different in the response to the school district as it relates to these children.”
The caucus is asking for an audit on the district’s preparedness for such circumstances, alignment with security professionals, and receiving grants for school safety.
“We believe evidence of adequate resources and increased support for schoolbased staff and teachers directly from the leaders of the school district and school board of directors is imperative,” said Bentum.
The district said Friday possible additional safeguards and procedures for building admittance are being planned.
There was no push from the caucus to fire or discipline building personnel directly involved with Sabree’s presence on school property, saying the conversation was “not one out of anger, of wanting retribution for any individual.”
“It’s an acknowledgment that something went tragically wrong,” said Williams. “For those of us who are worried and concerned about these children everyday … if we can’t be a family and critique each other when need be, then we are not doing our job.”
The district had no updated information about its internal investigations as of Wednesday evening.
A meeting is scheduled Wednesday morning for the district, community leaders and police to continue safety discussion talks.
Williams’ comments at the press conference, and those of caucus members, are based on facts and information they reportedly received about the event including police reports and audio and visual footage.