SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - After Lanphier High School student Pierre Scott Jr. was stabbed to death on school grounds, the District 186 Board of Education held a special session to discuss safety measures.

Most of the meeting was held in closed session, but the first few minutes were open for public comment.

Two concerned family members of District 186 students spoke, including Mike Lopez, who said the violence has affected everyone.

"A loss of life, a future of a young man of boundless opportunities was taken away by violence. Many of us recognize that our students need us as teachers, administrators, parents and community leaders to help them," Lopez said. 

Teresa Haley, Springfield NAACP President and grandparent of a District 186 student, said the district needs more security measures.

"I'm asking the school district to say enough is enough. It's time for us to do something different," Haley said. "Let's go ahead and get the metal detectors and the wands in the school."

Students have also been demanding more security with school walkouts that happened on Friday at Southeast, Lanphier and Springfield high schools, and now an online petition for metal detectors.

Superintendent Jennifer Gill said she is proud to see students using their voice to speak up for what they believe in.

"Student voice and that is something that we appreciate and it's a lesson that I think we can learn that when you listen to the student voice that that's gonna help you solve your problems and help you see your path forward," she said. 

Gill said the plan moving forward is to get more security in schools for the long term and get students struggling now help immediately.

"We lost two students in this situation and it's just sad," Gill said. "We want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to support students social and emotionally, and if any child has a need to still talk, we've been advocating in the schools all week that if you need to talk to somebody, we have people on site."

The district has already started using metal detector wands in schools and the added mental health resources remain for students to utilize.

The next Board of Education meeting will be on Dec. 6.Â