GREENFIELD — Parents of students at Federal Street School are asking for better communication and improved security around the school grounds after someone unexpectedly gained access to the building on Friday afternoon.
In an email sent to Federal Street School families on Friday shortly after 1 p.m., Principal Kelly Halpin shared that the school, which has grades kindergarten through fourth grade, had gone into a “shelter in place” under the advisement of the Greenfield Police Department after a man had entered the school through a door with a faulty lock. An additional email was sent after the incident and a third on Sunday.
“On the advice of Greenfield Police, we initiated a shelter in place in response to an individual they were monitoring in the area of the school. While the police were attempting to resolve the situation peacefully, the individual entered our school with police following closely behind. After a short time, Greenfield Police escorted the individual from our campus without incident and our school day resumed,” Halpin wrote in the email. “At no time did the individual interact with any of our students and police expressed that they did not feel there was any overt danger to anyone in the school.”
Interim Superintendent Roland Joyal Jr. said the faulty door lock was repaired on Monday and will be locked moving forward.
“We’ve taken care of the situation,” Joyal said. “We fixed the door and are prepared to keep kids safe.”
Standing in front of the school on Monday morning were a few parents who said students had seen the individual, who police confirmed had autism, and felt scared.
“Much of this experience we found out about afterward when we were talking with other parents, that their children had seen him, that they’d walked past him, that they had interactions with him,” parent Andrew Hernandez recounted. “Some children were extremely fearful.”
“The children inside the cafeteria were freaking out,” parent Virginia Haskell said. “You can’t allow someone who’s not vetted by the appropriate rules that have been set forth by the town and School Committee into the school.”
Police Chief Todd Dodge said the man had not been “allowed” into the school, but unfortunately, he found access to the building. He added that mental health issues did play a role in the individual’s actions and he was taken to Baystate Franklin Medical Center after being removed from the school. No criminal charges are being pursued.
“He ended up making his way over to the school and found the one door in the school with a faulty locking mechanism,” Dodge said. “A shelter in place was instituted and he was swiftly removed. … We don’t dillydally when it comes to the school.”
Dodge said police arrived as quickly as possible, though he suggested a response would have been quicker if the department had a dedicated school resource officer. He called the incident “eye-opening” and said that school, police and city officials need to be more proactive, with regular safety checks, training and protocols.
Greenfield had an SRO until the position was cut in 2020. Adding the position back to the Police Department has been proposed several times in the past few years. Most recently, in 2024, the School Committee voted 5-2 against having an SRO, citing concerns that students would not feel comfortable with law enforcement in their schools, and expressing doubt that an SRO would be effective in the event of an imminent threat to student safety.
“We know what it takes to secure a building, so let’s do it,” Dodge said. “Really, we all could’ve done better.”
In the email to parents, Halpin wrote that additional security measures would be implemented and the faulty door would be repaired.
“We are taking this situation very, very seriously. Because of the diligence of our teachers and staff, and the safety procedures we have in place, the situation was resolved safely,” Halpin said. “We are investigating exactly what happened. We instituted additional security measures immediately and will continue with those through the investigation.”
Hernandez said that hearing that a locksmith would be repairing the door on Monday did assuage some parents’ fears, but he and other parents were still concerned that the door had been broken in the first place and questioned how long it was known to be faulty.
“The man pulled open one of the doors that we later found out had been broken for some period of time. Varying degrees of how long that’s been — but regardless, there was information and the principal was aware,” Hernandez said. “You can’t have a shelter in place if the door was broken.”
In a Facebook post, the Greenfield Education Association teachers union echoed these concerns and said faculty had raised alarm about the faulty door.
“The fear and disruption experienced by our students and staff should never occur in a place dedicated to learning and growth,” the Greenfield Education Association wrote. “We are demanding a swift, thorough and transparent investigation into how this breach occurred. Reports of ongoing door and security concerns had been raised by staff multiple times, and serious questions remain about whether those responsible for implementing them followed established safety protocols.
“Our dedicated teachers and [instructional assistants] work hard every day to keep students safe. They deserve to know that their concerns are heard, that safety protocols are followed and that accountability exists when systems fail,” the post continued. “The community deserves answers, immediate corrective action and a commitment to ensuring that an incident like this never happens again in any GPS building.”
Joyal said that the school was not aware that the door was “compromised” prior to Friday’s incident. On Monday morning, Joyal, other staff members and a police officer were at Federal Street School to oversee student drop-off and ensure all entrances were secure prior to a locksmith coming to fix the faulty door.
Haskell said she picked up her children immediately after hearing about the incident, and she believes children should have been sent home after the intrusion, as teachers can’t teach and children can’t learn when they are still in “fight-or-flight mode.”
“There are several people who have a responsibility to keep the building safe enough for the kids, and they’ve failed,” Haskell said.
“Everybody has the children’s safety in mind; nobody wants children hurt,” Dodge said. “That door lock, if it was known to be defective, should’ve been priority No. 1.”
Joyal commended the Greenfield police officers’ speedy response, as well as the efforts of the Federal Street School faculty and staff members who remained calm during the shelter in place and focused on keeping the school a safe learning environment.
Moving forward, Joyal said the school district will review the security protocols at all locations. Joyal said he appreciates that parents trust the schools not only with educating their children, but keeping them safe in doing so, and the district will work to ensure that trust is not misplaced.
“That’s what we want to do, keep these kids safe,” Joyal said.
