A day after stabbing death, Wake school board meets behind closed doors to talk security
The Wake County school board met behind closed doors Tuesday to get updates on this week’s fatal stabbing at Southeast Raleigh High School.
The school board’s safety and security committee had scheduled the meeting well before a 14-year-old student was charged Monday with fatally stabbing a 15-year-old student and wounding a 16-year-old.
The committee revised its agenda to get “confidential security updates” about the stabbing. North Carolina law permits school boards to meet in closed session away from the public when discussing school safety plans.
School board chair Lindsay Mahaffey said she understands why parents would want the security updates discussed in public. But Mahaffey said law enforcement wants the details to be kept confidential.
“We also can’t give away the keys to the castle and let folks know what we’re doing, because we do have to have some things be more confidential so that our children are safe,” Mahaffey told reporters on Tuesday.
Parental concerns about school safety have escalated after the fatal on-campus stabbing.
According to Raleigh police and videos circulating on social media, a fight in the hallways of Southeast Raleigh High spread into the gymnasium on Monday morning. Questions have emerged, such as how a knife got inside the school building.
Will Wake use metal detectors?
Unlike neighboring Johnston County, Wake doesn’t have weapons detectors at school entrances to scan people when they walk on campus.
A consultant hired by Wake schools had recommended steps such as installing a new visitor check-in system over installing metal detectors and weapons detectors.
But Mahaffey didn’t rule out Tuesday the potential for using metal detectors. Mahaffey and Superintendent Robert Taylor had issued a joint statement on Monday saying Wake would review all safety processes and protocols to determine what happened and what changes may need to be made.
“We are always going to evaluate what our security issues are and that’s what this upcoming meeting is going to be about, what are we looking at security wise,” Mahaffey said when asked by reporters about metal detectors.
Moment of silence for school community
The committee was originally scheduled to discuss Tuesday whether to require spectators bring only clear bags to school athletic events. The committee was also supposed to discuss potential changes in the agreement that governs how school resource officers operate in schools.
Instead, the committee opened the meeting with a moment of silence for the Southeast Raleigh High community before revising the agenda to discuss the stabbing.
“The level of grief, heartache and pain that we are all experiencing is something that is going to take time to mend and to come to terms with,” said school board member Tara Waters, whose district includes Southeast Raleigh High.
“But the work we’re going to do today and moving forward will help us come to a place where we can ensure the safety of our students in our buildings and bring healing and hope to our communities.”
This story was originally published November 28, 2023 at 2:40 PM.
