Community Cites 'Epic Failure' After North Penn HS Student Found With Gun
TOWAMENCIN, PA — Parents and community members excoriated North Penn School District leadership during a tense and at times virulent public meeting Thursday night, days after a student was discovered with a gun inside the high school.
The student, a 16-year-old boy, was arrested inside the high school on Tuesday, Oct. 21, after local police received a tip that a student might have a gun.
The weapon, a 9mm handgun, was loaded when the boy was found by police.
Representatives of North Penn United, an organization backing Republican-aligned candidates for the school board, said that the student had a "history of violent behavior" and had been suspended from Penndale Middle School last year.
"The Board and Security had no policy, no procedure, and no plan for when or how to use the system which allowed this student to walk right into the high school, undetected, with a loaded handgun in his waistband," North Penn United said.
Speakers during the public meeting Thursday said that the district's lack of communication and clarity on the incident contributed to their concern.
"(It's unclear) why the metal detectors were not in use, why we didn't have closer eyes on the student to allow him here," said Towamencin resident Shannon Main. "The policies and procedures which allowed this to take place is an epic failure."
During the meeting, Superintendent Todd Bauer said that the established procedure for tips of this nature required that he first contact police. He said from the time that police arrived at the main office of the school and identified the suspect, only two minutes passed before the student was located in the hallway, walked through the courtyard, and placed into custody.
"The student was located, he was cooperative, and there was no longer concern for the safety of those in the building," Bauer added.
North Penn United expressed concern that teachers and staff were not notified of the incident until after the armed student was arrested. The district also made no public statement, instead only notifying the school community in the letter on Wednesday morning, further raising questions of transparency.
Bauer said that he had worked with Towamencin Township police chief Tim Troxel to determine what information about the investigation could be released publicly. Bauer said Troxel was away at a training Tuesday night, and that's why the communication to the school community did not go out until after the two had connected early Wednesday morning.
North Penn has had a metal detector from the company Evolv since March, 2024. After the incident, the district said in a letter home to the school community that security would raised and that all students would be going through the metal detector. It's unclear if the use of the metal detector has been intermittent.
School Director Tina Stoll said that a further update on the school's Evolv system, as well as their security and communications policies, would be provided during a Safe Schools committee meeting Monday night at 5:30 p.m. That meeting can
