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Free NYC School Safety Agent Practice Questions

Ten questions from our School Safety Agent practice exams, covering the written abilities the DCAS notice lists, from deductive reasoning to written expression.

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Read this, then answer the questions about it.

All persons entering the building through a scanning post shall pass through the walk-through detector. A person who alarms the walk-through detector shall be scanned with the hand-held detector. A person who alarms the hand-held detector shall be asked to remove metal items and pass through the walk-through detector a second time. A person who alarms the walk-through detector on the second pass shall not be admitted and a supervisor shall be notified.

Bags are placed on the belt and pass through the x-ray unit. A bag whose contents cannot be identified on the screen shall be opened by its owner in the presence of the agent. An agent shall not reach into a bag. Where the owner refuses to open the bag, the bag shall not be admitted and a supervisor shall be notified.

A student who is late and arrives after the scanning post has closed shall be directed to the Main Office. Scanning is not performed at the Main Office.

Question 1

A person alarms the walk-through detector. According to the passage, what happens next?
  1. A. A supervisor is notified immediately
  2. B. The person is asked to remove metal items and pass through again
  3. C. The person is scanned with the hand-held detector
  4. D. The person is not admitted
Show the answer

The answer is C. The passage sets out the order: walk-through alarm, then hand-held scan. Everything else follows a further alarm.

  • A is wrong: A supervisor is notified only after a second walk-through alarm.
  • B is wrong: Removing metal items follows an alarm on the HAND-HELD detector, which has not happened yet.
  • D is wrong: Refusal of entry follows the second walk-through alarm, not the first.

Question 2

A bag on the belt shows contents the agent cannot identify on the screen. According to the passage, the agent shall
  1. A. open the bag and examine the contents
  2. B. refuse the bag and notify a supervisor
  3. C. send the bag through the x-ray unit a second time
  4. D. ask the owner to open the bag in the agent's presence
Show the answer

The answer is D. The passage says the bag shall be opened by its OWNER in the presence of the agent, and states separately that an agent shall not reach into a bag.

  • A is wrong: The passage expressly forbids this: an agent shall not reach into a bag.
  • B is wrong: Refusal and notification follow only if the owner refuses to open it.
  • C is wrong: A second pass is the rule for the walk-through detector, not for bags.

Question 3

A rule states: "An agent shall confiscate a prohibited item found during scanning, issue a receipt to its owner, and deliver the item to the Security Desk before the end of the tour. Where the item is a weapon, the agent shall instead notify a supervisor immediately and shall not handle the item." An agent finds a folding knife with a four-inch blade in a bag. Under the rule, the agent shall
  1. A. confiscate the knife and issue a receipt
  2. B. notify a supervisor immediately and not handle the knife
  3. C. deliver the knife to the Security Desk before the end of the tour
  4. D. confiscate the knife and notify a supervisor
Show the answer

The answer is B. The second sentence replaces the first for weapons. A knife is a weapon, so the whole confiscate-receipt-deliver sequence is set aside and the agent notifies a supervisor without handling it.

  • A is wrong: This applies the general rule to a case the rule expressly carves out.
  • C is wrong: Delivering the item requires handling it, which the weapon rule forbids.
  • D is wrong: Confiscating still means handling the item. The rule says instead, not in addition.

Question 4

A rule states: "A visitor's pass shall be surrendered on departure. Where a pass is not surrendered, the agent shall record the pass number and the visitor's name in the log and notify the Main Office by the end of the tour." A visitor departs and hands in the pass. Under the rule, the agent shall
  1. A. record the pass number and notify the Main Office
  2. B. record the pass number in the log
  3. C. record the time of departure and nothing further
  4. D. notify the Main Office by the end of the tour
Show the answer

The answer is C. The second sentence applies only where a pass is NOT surrendered. It was surrendered, so nothing in the second sentence is triggered.

  • A is wrong: Both of these steps belong to the unsurrendered-pass case.
  • B is wrong: Recording the pass number is part of the unsurrendered-pass case.
  • D is wrong: Notifying the Main Office is part of the unsurrendered-pass case.

Question 5

Phones have been taken from the boys' locker room on five occasions this term. All five were taken during the third-period gym class. In all five the locker was found closed but unlocked. No locker was forced. Which conclusion is best supported?
  1. A. A member of staff is responsible
  2. B. The owners forgot to lock their lockers
  3. C. The lockers are faulty and do not lock
  4. D. The thefts share a time and a method
Show the answer

The answer is D. The same period and the same unforced, unlocked locker across all five occasions are the facts common to every incident. That is what they jointly establish.

  • A is wrong: Nothing given concerns who was present or who had access.
  • B is wrong: This is also possible, and for the same reason it is not established: nothing given describes what the owners did.
  • C is wrong: A faulty lock is one possible explanation, but nothing given describes any locker being tested.

Question 6

A fire alarm has been pulled four times in two months. Each was traced to the same second-floor pull station. All four occurred between 1:15 and 1:30 p.m. A maintenance contractor works on the second floor at that hour. On one of the four occasions the contractor was absent and the alarm still sounded. Which conclusion is best supported?
  1. A. The contractor is responsible for the alarms
  2. B. The contractor's presence does not by itself explain the alarms
  3. C. The pull station is faulty and should be replaced
  4. D. The alarms have nothing to do with the second floor
Show the answer

The answer is B. One alarm sounded while the contractor was absent, and that single fact is what prevents the contractor's presence from accounting for the pattern.

  • A is wrong: The contractor was absent for one of the four, so presence cannot be the explanation.
  • C is wrong: A fault is possible, but nothing given describes the station's condition or any test of it.
  • D is wrong: All four traced to the same second-floor station, which is a strong connection rather than none.

Question 7

A directive lists the steps for admitting a visitor, in this order: (1) request photo identification; (2) enter the visitor in the log; (3) telephone the office being visited to confirm; (4) issue a visitor's pass. An agent has requested identification and entered the visitor in the log. Which step comes next?
  1. A. Issue a visitor's pass
  2. B. Telephone the office being visited
  3. C. Request photo identification again
  4. D. Escort the visitor to the office
Show the answer

The answer is B. Entering the visitor in the log is step 2, so the next step in the stated order is step 3, the telephone confirmation.

  • A is wrong: The pass is step 4 and comes after the confirmation.
  • C is wrong: Identification was requested at step 1 and the directive does not repeat it.
  • D is wrong: Escorting is not one of the four steps listed.

Question 8

An agent is completing an incident report. The narrative states the altercation was broken up at 13:20. The nurse's log records the student arriving at 13:05, and the camera timestamp on the corridor footage reads 13:12. Which is the most significant problem?
  1. A. The camera timestamp should be in the narrative
  2. B. The report does not name the corridor
  3. C. Fifteen minutes is a long time to reach the nurse
  4. D. The nurse saw the student before the altercation was recorded as ending
Show the answer

The answer is D. A student cannot reach the nurse from an altercation that has not ended yet, and the footage sits between the two. Two records contradict the stated time, and that must be resolved before the report is filed.

  • A is wrong: Adding the timestamp would not resolve the contradiction between the three records.
  • B is wrong: The corridor would be useful, but its absence contradicts nothing.
  • C is wrong: The interval is unremarkable; the problem is the ORDER of the times, not the gap.

Question 9

An agent is posted alone at a side entrance during dismissal. The agent's radio shows no signal in that stairwell, the nearest agent is on the third floor, and around two hundred students will use the door in the next ten minutes. Which is the most significant problem?
  1. A. Radio coverage in stairwells is commonly poor in older school buildings
  2. B. The agent cannot call for help at the busiest moment of the day
  3. C. Two hundred students is a lot for one door
  4. D. The agent should have tested the radio first
Show the answer

The answer is B. Three facts combine: alone, no radio, and a crowd arriving. Any one is minor; together the agent is about to face the busiest moment of the day with no way to call anyone.

  • A is wrong: That poor coverage is common explains the radio but does not reduce the risk it creates here.
  • C is wrong: Volume alone is routine at dismissal; it is the loss of communication alongside it that matters.
  • D is wrong: A test would have helped earlier. The question asks what is wrong now.

Question 10

Facts: At 8:12 a.m. Agent Ruiz found the rear gate padlock cut and lying on the ground. The gate was closed. Nothing appeared to be missing from the yard. Which sentence reports these facts most accurately?
  1. A. At 8:12 a.m. an intruder cut the rear gate padlock and left without taking anything from the yard.
  2. B. At 8:12 a.m. Agent Ruiz found the rear gate padlock cut and on the ground. The gate was closed and nothing appeared missing.
  3. C. The rear gate was found closed at 8:12 a.m. by Agent Ruiz, who then cut the padlock to check the yard.
  4. D. Agent Ruiz reported that the rear gate had been left standing open overnight, with its padlock cut through and lying on the ground beside it.
Show the answer

The answer is B. It keeps the time, who found it, the state of the padlock, the state of the gate, and the apparent absence of loss, and attributes each to the right person.

  • A is wrong: 'An intruder' asserts a person and an intent the facts do not establish.
  • C is wrong: The word order makes Agent Ruiz the one who cut the padlock.
  • D is wrong: The gate was closed, not open, and nothing given covers overnight.
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