After a student was stabbed and killed in a Bronx school last week, a school safety agent says more needs to be done to protect students, faculty and agents who have to intervene in a crisis.
The call for action comes after 18-year-old Abel Cedeno stabbed two students, killing one of them at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation, according to police.
The incident has caused panic among families of students at the school, with the Department of Education saying 20 parents filed transfer requests over the last week.
The DOE responded to the transfers, saying, "We are reviewing each request and working closely with families. We have additional safety measures in place and have added more guidance counselors and school safety agents."
But the safety agent, who wished to stay anonymous, says things have stayed the same.
"It's been traumatic. Agents are scared because it's changing,” says the agent. “Schools are changing, schools that have elementary schools, junior high and a high school in one building and don't have a scanner -- they should have scanners."
The school did not have metal detectors of scanners of any kind on the day of the stabbing, but has since added them.
The agent also says that more agents in place would help in a crisis.
"You have 1,100 students there, three schools and you only had three agents,” says the agent. “That's impossible to keep all those kids into control to keep everybody safe."
The director of Teamsters Local 237 says that four New York City agents have been attacked since the first day of school, and he is joining the fight for more resources.