A safety breach at MacArthur Elementary School has a group of parents angry and concerned.

Many of those parents spoke out a public meeting on Monday, Jan.9, worried that future missteps could have disastrous results.

School Principal Jane Gately started the meeting by describing the incident, in which a college-age man came to the front door on Friday, Dec. 16, and asked to enter. A substitute secretary buzzed him in, and the man was directed to the main office, right by the front entrance.

Specter of 'another Sandy Hook'

Gately did acknowledge that the secretary made a mistake in letting the man in without asking for any identification or why he wanted to enter.

Audrey Griffin-Goode, a parent of a third-grader at the school, was most concerned about the fact that the man got into the building so easily, even if safety protocol was followed once he was inside.

“That’s all it takes, and we would have had anther Sandy Hook,” she said, referring to the 2012 Connecticut elementary school shooting that killed 20 children and six school staff.

Much of the discussion during the meeting turned dark, as parents envisioned a possible shooting at the school.

“That is terrifying for all of us,” said Griffin-Goode. “Everybody could have been dead in seconds.”

Gately, in response to the fiery criticism from some parents, said she understood the risks schools face today.

"I'm very aware of what can happen," she said. "Perhaps they won't buzz into a school, perhaps they will break in ... that’s a reality, and we live with that everyday."

“We’re going to be more vigilant,” she added.

Man showed 'confusing behavior'

During the incident on Dec. 16, once the man was in the office, school staff asked him why he was there. He told them he was on a walk from Newton, and wanted to come in from the cold. It was roughly 12 degrees outside.

Gately said the man was not dressed appropriately for the weather, only wearing a windbreaker as a jacket, and wearing sneakers and no gloves.

The man told them he was a Boston College student, and he liked to walk. He told them he was on his way to Hardy Pond in Waltham. Gately said the man was never allowed out of the office, and students were not allowed in the office while he was there.

According to Gately, the man was acting strangely and exhibiting “confusing behavior,” so someone from the school called the police.

Officer criticizes school response

One of the responding officers was Paul Tracey, who has two children in the school.

Tracey has been the most vocal critic of the school department’s handling of the situation. Last month, he called for the resignation of Superintendent Drew Echelson over the incident.

At the meeting on Monday, he again held Echelson and the school administration accountable for the occurrence.

Tracey has had other issues with the city, tied to an incident in 2011 when he was investigated for visiting the house of a previous tenant of Waltham City Councilor Paul Brasco. Tracey came under fire for not calling in his location to dispatch, and other perceived infractions, and he was placed on administrative leave for roughly eight months.

Tracey later sued the city for wrongful discipline.

Police drove man to train

Once police arrived at MacArthur, they asked the man if he wanted to go to a hospital, but he refused. Tracey said he drove the man to a nearby rail station and let him go. Tracey did not take the man to the police station.

Many parents were upset the school department did not send out a notification of the incident the day of the occurrence, and instead sent an email the day after.

Gately said she waited until she had all of the information, including the police report, before sending out a notification. Because of the feedback from the meeting, however, she said the school would send out future notifications in a timelier manner, even if all information was not available at the time.

“I want to reiterate that as principal of the school, our priority is the safety of the students in all cases,” she said. “I would never put your children at risk for any reason. I did not ever that day feel there was a threat to the students.”

Metal detectors back on the table?

Echelson said that in response to the incident, and the response from parents, the district would have someone at the door checking anyone who enters the school going forward.

At one point, one parent said she would feel safer if the city’s elementary schools had school resource officers, or SROs, which are used in the city’s middle schools and high school.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy got up from her seat in the audience and responded to the question by saying the school would need to install metal detectors if it were to get SROs, but that a previous proposal to do so did not pass the School Committee.

“I think (metal detectors are) necessary in today’s world because I don’t want to be the mayor with a kid dead,” she said.

She added, “Everybody knows that (teaching) is not an easy job anymore … and not a lot of people want to do it anymore because of their safety.”

Waltham Police officer Ann Frassica struck a hopeful tone at the end of the meeting, seeking to make Waltham schools safer going forward.

“It’s never too late to make improvements,” she said. “We should work together to improve all of our schools.”