Aman Ali of The Journal News is reporting that a student at New Rochelle High School was stabbed this afternoon while outside the building.
When asked whether the incident suggested the school should take more precautions to prevent further problems, Principal Don Conetta dismissed such concers.
[Conetta] was asked if the high school will strengthen its security measures in response to the incident.
“I don’t see us doing that at this time but we’re continuing our investigation,” Conetta said. “If we feel like we need to, then we won’t hesitate to. But at this time we don’t plan on doing so.”
The Journal News reported Conetta claimed “the high school ‘hasn’t had a serious incident in a long while.’
Perhaps Don Conetta has a different conception of “serious incident” and “long while” than most people but on his watch there have been fights, assaults, a stabbing, gang-related incidents, weapons violations, bomb threats, and two fires. Just last week, there was a fight among several students in the school cafeteria. In that incident a guard in the cafeteria tackled one of the students involved and kept them pinned down on the floor until five other guards arrived to restore order.
The district often fails to report incidents as required by law because Violent and Disruptive Incident Reports (VADIR reports) show up on the New York State Report cards which then reflect badly on the school district. In one incident about a year ago, students ordered lunch from a nearby Chinese restaurant then robbed the delivery person at knife point. In another, three students broke into the school after hours, stole television sets and computers, vandalized classrooms, defecated and urinated in offices throughout the building. A melee on Main Street in downtown New Rochelle a few months ago was reportedly a carry-over from a dispute that arose at the high school. Prior to that, there was another stabbing on school grounds between the the lakes and Eastchester Avenue. There are reports that a Westchester DA Task Force on Gang Activity is investigating several incidents at the high school.
Other than that, things have been peachy at the high school.
UPDATE:
Students weigh in…
– I’m a student at NRHS and my friends and I had no idea there was even a stabbing INSIDE the school until 3 pm. Granted, I heard the stabbing happened inside the building through the grapevine, but I’d rather be informed when something like this happens.
Our parents pay obscene taxes for security guards that ride around on golf karts and make life difficult for students who actually want to make it out of this school and become something, instead of breaking up things like this. The priorities of this school are so messed up it’s almost funny.
– i go to nrhs… not gonna lie not too surprised, thts new rochelle for u… my question is if the security guards are always riding around on their stupid golf carts catching people trying to leave campus, telling people to put away their phones, or trying to talk to the kids, th
No incidents in a long
No incidents in a long while!!!! That’s because Conetta and Daniele withhold information from the public. What you don’t know can’t hurt you. As a teacher at NRHS, we see so much fighting, theft and unruly behavior that I can’t imagine it’s not being reported. We have no faith in the security. We have complained to the union and they refused to do anything about it since Marty Daily is literally in bed with everyone at the Board office.