U.S. schools across the country continue to implement additional security measures, some still motivated by the Apalachee High School shooting and others motivated by recent threats within their own schools.
Three hours south of Apalachee, in Albany, Ga., Dougherty County Schools is upgrading its security cameras to detect threats through a person’s clothing, WALB reports. The district’s police chief, Troy Conley, said the upgrades are designed to detect bulges in a person’s clothing before they enter school grounds.
“All of our schools have camera systems throughout. They have internal and external cameras,” he said. “Hopefully, in the near future, we’re hoping for something along the lines that’s going to help us with the facial recognition and zooming capabilities.”
For the last two years, the district has also been using CENTEGIX CrisisAlert, a wearable panic alarm. The solution has been credited for saving lives during the Apalachee shooting after several teachers used it to initiate a lockdown.
Milwaukee School Increases Security Following Multiple Graffiti Threats
In the weeks following the Apalachee shooting, school threats skyrocketed, forcing many districts to temporarily close and leading to the arrests of dozens of children and teens. More than two months after the tragedy, schools are still dealing with these disruptive and unnerving threats.
In Milwaukee, Wis., Pius XI High School increased security last week after several threatening graffiti messages were found, according to WISN. On Nov. 4, the word “murder” was painted across the school’s front doors in red paint. Principal Ryan Krienke said it was the third threatening graffiti incident in the last month. Two others were written in school bathrooms.
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The school ultimately went virtual for a week while metal detectors were installed. When students returned to school Tuesday, they were directed to enter through the field house rather than the front doors. Armed security officers were on hand as students passed through the metal detectors, and students are required to carry their school identification cards with them at all times.
“I think it’ll be a heightened anxiety; I think the first couple of days we should expect that,” Krienke said. “And once they get in the building, if they see our staff and see us being warm and smiling and we have a normal couple school days, they’re going to get back to feeling very comfortable and secure.”
The additional security measures may not be permanent but won’t be reevaluated until police make an arrest, Krienke added.
Kenosha Unified Ups Security Following School Shooting Threat
Also in Wisconsin, the same week as the Pius XI High School incident, Kenosha Unified School District staff thwarted a potential school incident after a teen with a duffel bag tried to enter an elementary school.
Around 9 a.m. on Nov. 7, the 13-year-old tried to enter Roosevelt Elementary School with a backpack and a duffel bag, according to police. The teen ran away after being confronted by school staff members who noticed him carrying the suspicious bags. The incident resulted in a districtwide lockdown and search.
The boy, who attends Mahone Middle School and was a former Roosevelt Elementary student, was arrested at his home later that day. When Kenosha Police searched the home, they found several airsoft replica handguns and an airsoft replica rifle. The boy later told a social worker that he went to the school with the replica weapons with the “intent to scare students,” Fox reports. The teen also conducted multiple internet searches on school shootings, police say. He has been charged with making terrorist threats.
Following the incident, KUSD initiated a review of its safety procedures to identify areas for improvement. Planned security enhancements were announced on Nov. 13. According to Kenosha News, the changes include:
- Updated doorbell camera monitors with improved visibility
- Monitors with additional outdoor camera views to be installed
- Front office staff to receive refresher training on visitor protocols, including essential safety screening practices and using the district’s Raptor visitor management system
- Part-time school entrance monitors at seven schools currently without controlled entrances will escort visitors screened by office staff to their destinations
KUSD says it is pushing for additional security improvements, including installing secured entrances, updating cameras, replacing exterior doors, installing shatter-resistant window film, and adding more card readers. The proposed changes, which could cost more than $13 million to implement, will be presented to the Board of Education on Feb. 18.
Ambridge Area School District Student Brings Gun to School, Threatens Classmates
In Ambridge, Penn., local officials say a 13-year-old student brought a loaded gun to Ambridge Area Middle School on Nov. 13 and threatened classmates. Ambridge Police Chief John DeLuca said the student took his parents’ gun from his home and kept it in his waistband most of the day, CBS reports. The school’s weapons detection system hit on the student’s backpack, but when a screener searched the bag, they found a plastic water gun. The chief said the real gun was still in the backpack but the screener gave the bag back to student after finding the water gun.
Police say the student threatened at least two classmates, and the principal and school resource officer were notified about the threats. The student was arrested and taken to a juvenile detention facility in Ohio where he is facing two simple assault charges.
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In a letter to parents Thursday, the district outlined new security protocols for its elementary, middle, and high schools. Starting Friday, middle and high school students were required to have clear backpacks with only “essential school items.” Students without a clear backpack must carry their belongings. Students who need bags for extracurricular activities can bring “the necessary clothing, equipment, and materials” in a bag that will be scanned and kept in a designated location in the building.
Middle schoolers and high schoolers are prohibited from bringing three-ring binders and Trapper Keepers to school and must instead use “non-metal organizational folders.” Elementary school students are also prohibited from using three-ring binders and Trapper Keepers and will be required to have clear backpacks and lung bags by Dec. 3.
“We are providing additional time for elementary schools as it is difficult for younger children to carry multiple items,” the district said.
The district will continue to review the new procedures and will adjust as necessary.
Schuylkill Haven Area School District Uses Grant Funding to Establish Security Program
Also in Pennsylvania, Schuylkill Haven Area School District established a new security program using grant funding from the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency, according to Reading Eagle.
The four new security team members, who were introduced to school officials on Nov. 13, are all retired state troopers with over 25 years in law enforcement. Two of them have worked as school resource officers at Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29.
Superintendent Shawn Fitzpatrick emphasized that the security officers are not there to punish students.
“They’re not dragging kids to detention, they’re there to protect,” he said. “I also want them to build relationships with our students, eat with them, walk the halls with the kids. They’re not the type of guys who are going to sit back in that office.”
The officers will be on school premises eight hours a day and will start in their new roles after Thanksgiving.
Pine Bluff School District to Use Grant Funding for Access Control, Officer Radios
Pine Bluff School District in Arkansas is also utilizing grant money to make school security enhancements, KARK reports. The district was recently awarded $400,000 by the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, a division of the state Department of Education. Foster Baker, the district’s director of Security and Emergency Services, said the district will use the money to fund four different projects.
First, the district will purchase a visitor management system. The funds will also be used to install perimeter fences around some schools and parking lots, and to buy more than 100 new digital radios for the district’s security officers.
“If you were deep off in a building and you’re trying to call for help your transmission wasn’t being received by officers,” Baker said.
The fourth upgrade will be a universal door locking system at all schools.
“If a school has 60 classrooms there are 60 keys, one for each room,” Baker described. “Now if there’s trouble inside a room, administration or security will have one key.”
Pine Bluff School District was also impacted by a threat made by a student on Nov. 17. The 13-year-old Pine Bluff Junior High School student recorded a threatening video that included a gun and sent it to another student, DeltaPlex reports. Several law enforcement officers were seen at Pine Bluff Freshman Academy on Monday in response to the threat. The student was arrested and charged with terroristic threatening.
Davie County Public Schools Hopes to Use Grant Money to Buy Weapons Detectors
In North Carolina, Davie County Public Schools’ Board of Education voted to approve placing 18 weapons detection systems in its buildings, WXII reports. The approved system is CEIA’s OPENGATE, a portable walk-through detection system that can be used indoors and outdoors. The units will be implemented across the district in stages, starting with the middle and high schools. All students and visitors will be required to enter the schools through the system.
The total cost of the units is approximately $350,000. The district applied for a safety grant that, if approved, will cover the entire purchase. Until then, the initial cost will be covered by the district’s capital fund balance.
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Davie County Schools is also implementing the RAVE Panic Button app which allows teachers to report threats immediately and call for help. Staff are currently being trained on the technology.
“We have well over a hundred cameras on the high school campus, two SROs on campus daily,” said Superintendent Jeff Wallace. “So those features are in place. Doors are automatically locked, we have emergency lockdown capabilities, and then again with the RAVE app, it would be an instant means of communication across the district.”
