NYC school door locking system approved. Here's what it means.

NYC school door locking system

New York City schools might see an added layer of protection soon after the surge of school shootings taking place across the country.

NEW YORK - The Panel for Educational Policy has voted to approve a $43 million contract to lock the front entrances of New York City school doors, as well as installing cameras and buzzers.

The security system is intended to keep unwanted visitors out of school buildings. It comes in the wake of Sandy Hook, Uvalde and two recent shootings outside two Brooklyn high schools in the past few weeks.

According to Chalkbeat, the new technology would be monitored by school safety agents.

Students shot outside Brooklyn school

2 students and a security guard were shot in the middle of the street on Wednesday afternoon.

Details on the plan are limited, but the topic over increasing school safety has been ongoing.

"At the center of all we do is student safety and wellbeing," said Jenna Lyle, spokesperson for the Department of Education. "The proposed system will add an additional layer of security to ensure student safety."

She continued to say: "Currently, every one of our public schools keeps every door locked and alarmed, expect the front door, which is staffed by NYPD School Safety Agents."

Some critics of the plan have raised concerns over certain situations where students have to go inside the school to seek refuge when there is an outside threat. It’s unclear how schools would address situations like that.

NYPD increasing presence outside NYC schools

A string of recent violent incidents, including shootings have caused the NYPD to increase the presence of officers outside schools across New York City.

Just last week, two students and a security guard were shot outside a charter school in Brooklyn.

It happened just after 2 p.m. at Williamsburg Charter High School on Varet St. in the East Williamsburg section.

About 15 students from the school got into a fight a short distance from the school. One of them pulled out a gun and started shooting.

A 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg. A 15-year-old girl was shot in the leg. The security guard was grazed in the neck by a bullet. All were expected to survive.

Two teens hospitalized after being shot in Brooklyn

An argument at a fast-food restaurant in Williamsburg ended in gunfire and a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl being shot on Monday afternoon.

A couple of days before that shooting, 2 students at another school in Williamsburg were shot near school grounds.

The victims, a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl, were shot at a housing development roughly half a block away from the Grand Street Campus High School in Williamsburg.

Police said the incident began as an argument between groups of women at a nearby business. At least six shots were fired.

The man was grazed in the head and was in stable condition, while the girl was shot in the stomach and was also in stable condition.

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