As two teachers who police say were stabbed by a student continue to recover, a union leader blamed the incident on an “epic administrative failure” by the school and credited a teacher’s assistant with saving lives by warning students and staff about the attack.
The ordeal took place on Tuesday, Nov. 19, shortly after noon at Castor Gardens Middle School on 1800 Cottman Avenue. Police said an 11-year-old student with developmental issues attacked a 63-year-old teacher and a 31-year-old teacher with a kitchen knife, stabbing the older woman in the side and the younger woman in the arm.
Responding police officers took the boy into custody and recovered the knife, investigators said. The 63-year-old teacher was taken to the hospital while the 31-year-old teacher refused medical treatment. Castor Gardens Middle School Principal Dr. Shawn McGuigan said both women suffered minor injuries.
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During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg said Rasheima Hainey -- a teacher’s assistant at Castor Gardens -- ran down the hallway moments after the attack to warn students and staff.
“I want to commend Rasheima Hainey, a paraprofessional who’s one of our members, who ran down the hallway while the assailant was on the loose looking for more people to stab, alerting staff members in their rooms not to open the door,” Steinberg said. “She put herself at great risk and saved I’m sure countless lives and injuries.”
While Dr. McGuigan said the school was placed on lockdown for about 90 minutes after the attack, Steinberg claimed Wednesday that the reason why Hainey had to warn staff members in the first place is because an alert was not sent out immediately after the incident. Steinberg claimed it was part of a security failure at the school.
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“It’s due to really an epic administrative failure at the school level,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg would not go into specific details about what those failures were but said he spoke about the incident with Philadelphia School District Superintendent Dr. Tony Watlington Sr.
“The failure was at the school level and until the superintendent has a chance to respond and react to it, I’m not going to share that now. However, rest well assured, if they do not take what we believe is appropriate action, I will let you know,” Steinberg said. “There were other things that could’ve occurred to prevent it and those I don’t want to discuss right now.”
While Steinberg did not discuss the specifics, he did claim that the school’s metal detector did not detect the boy’s knife. He also spoke about steps his union is taking to prevent a similar incident at the school.
“They’re going to tighten up the security at the school and make sure that personnel are performing their duties properly and that the school administration is proactive and tries to make sure that this does not happen again,” he said.
Steinberg also blamed the school’s issues on “chronic disinvestment” that’s causing fewer resources, personnel and equipment that would “make sure that everyone is safe.”
“The chronic disinvestment goes to services the kids need,” Steinberg said. “Equipment at the schools that detect metal and any other kind of weapons and personnel to adequately staff and monitor.”
Steinberg also said the PFT reached out to Hainey as well as one of the injured teachers.
“We hope that the student allegedly responsible receives the professional support they should have had, and which could also have prevented this,” Steinberg said.
On Tuesday, parents and students spoke with NBC10 about the school’s security issues as well.
"The metal detectors go off and people don't check the bags and stuff of the children that go through the metal detectors," one student said.
Philadelphia School District spokesperson Monique Braxton also addressed the security complaints.
"I know nothing about a lapse in security at Castor Gardens," she said. "I can tell you that the student did arrive, did go through the metal detector and it did not pick up the knife. So that is going to be investigated by the Office of School Safety."
Braxton provided more detail on the security issue in a released statement on Wednesday.
"Philadelphia Police are working closely with the Office of School Safety, District leaders, and the parents of the student to investigate and understand all of the circumstances surrounding this incident," she wrote. "The School District of Philadelphia is focused on the safety and well-being of the entire school community. The student did pass through a minimally-invasive free-standing metal detector when he entered the building. School Safety Officers are conducting an inspection of the detector. All district middle and high schools have metal detectors."
