NYC officials ponder next steps following Texas elementary school shooting

New York City officials have started to ponder on the way forward following the recent Texas elementary school shooting.

In New York City, the tragedy in Texas is likely to rekindle debate over metal detectors in schools, how safe campuses really are, and the role of school safety agents.

Students in New York City and the state are grappling with a string of high-profile violent incidents.

Within the last two months, a man opened fire on a crowded subway in Sunset Park; multiple shootings have taken place outside of schools, including one that claimed the life of 16-year-old Angellyh Yambo; and a white gunman motivated by racism killed 10 Black shoppers at a Buffalo grocery store.

The mayor and chancellor reiterated their support for hiring more school safety agents, with staffing far below previous years.

Mayor Eric Adams stood by his plan to stop the transfer of responsibility over school safety agents from the New York Police Department to the education department, a move that disappointed many advocates who argue that police department employees should not be stationed in schools.

“We have some of the best school safety agents,” said Adams, who served for decades as a police officer before becoming mayor.

“They’re going to stay in coordination with the police department. And we’re going to make sure we stand with the chancellor to get to the numbers that we need.”

The horror of another massacre in America’s classrooms has again ignited debate about how to keep children safe while they learn.

In New York, where state gun safety laws are already stricter than many other parts of the country, Gov. Kathy Hochul Wednesday announced a push to raise the age for purchasing certain types of firearms.

She also deployed state troopers to conduct daily check-ins at schools for the rest of the academic year, which runs through the end of June for many districts.