Suffolk Reporter

On Friday afternoon, William Floyd High School experienced a malfunction in its automated lockdown system. A pre-recorded message was mistakenly broadcast, indicating an actual lockdown. Superintendent Kevin M. Coster clarified that the lockdown was not initiated by school or district personnel and attributed the incident to an audio component failure.

Coster explained that if a real lockdown had been initiated, there would have been several indicators such as strobe lights, internal notifications of the lockdown's origin, and an automated call to the police department. None of these occurred during the incident.

The superintendent addressed rumors linking the malfunction to a fight at Dunkin’ Donuts near the school's east entrance. He stated that if such an event posed a threat, they might have initiated a "hold-in-place" rather than a full lockdown. He emphasized that past police activities in the area have never led to school lockdowns but instead resulted in standard lockout procedures.

Coster also discussed progress on the metal detector installation project at William Floyd High School. The pilot project is advancing positively with ongoing testing and staff training. Three units are currently rotated among various entrances daily, with full delivery expected within a month. Plans are underway to expand this initiative to middle and elementary schools.

He encouraged community members to report any concerns via their Confidential Hotline at (631) 874-1200.

Superintendent Coster assured efforts are being made to prevent future malfunctions and keep the community informed about security measures.