Akron board approves $1.7 million purchase of metal detectors, X-ray machines for schools

Akron Public Schools is spending more than $1.7 million to buy metal detectors and airport-like X-ray machines that will be used each school day and at school events at all of the district’s high and middle schools.

The district’s school board on Monday also approved buying new security cameras to replace aging ones.

The security upgrades, which have been in the works for some time, come after a seventh grader at the district’s Litchfield middle school was found with a gun last week. Students told administrators of their concern that the student possibly had a weapon.

Guns in schools:APS to expand use of metal detectors after Litchfield CLC student found with loaded gun

The incident prompted the district last week to significantly boost security by moving to routine use of metal detectors at all high schools and middle schools.

Previously, the district used the detectors and backpack checks on a random basis.

On Friday, security concerns were again heightened when a student was caught with a loaded gun at Firestone high school.

The student asked to go to his locker after the school day and before a 7 p.m. basketball game at the school. An alert administrator who escorted the student to his locker noticed that the student’s coat was drooping as if there was something heavy inside it.

A loaded .45-caliber handgun was found in one of the pockets.

School safety:Firestone high school student caught with loaded handgun before game with Buchtel

The student was let into the school by another student through a side door, avoiding metal detectors in use, according to Stephen Thompson, the district's chief operating officer.

Currently, all backpacks are individually checked. At the district’s larger schools — such as Firestone high school, with about 1,200 students — it can take an hour or more to get all students on their way to classes.

“Getting our students through will be significantly faster with these new machines,” Thompson said Monday.

The district has long wanted to employ better technology to more efficiently screen for weapons.

The gun found in the student’s fanny pack at Litchfield, along with another incident Friday, added a sense of urgency to the need to purchase equipment, Thompson said.

The new metal detectors should be in use in the buildings by mid-February. The bag scanners should be in use sometime in the spring.

During the meeting, Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack pledged to work with teachers and the community to continue addressing school safety concerns.

“We are responding," Fowler Mack said. "We are still listening and willing to do more.”

Security among sticking points in teacher contract negotiations

School safety and discipline have been among the sticking points in ongoing contract negotiations between Akron Public Schools and the teachers union, with teachers repeatedly saying schools are not safe.

Numerous members of the teachers union, the Akron Education Association, packed Monday night's school board meeting, wearing matching shirts with "AEA" across the front.

Negotiators for Akron Public Schools and the union are scheduled to meet with a federal mediator in an effort to reach an agreement on a new contract.

On Tuesday, Akron Education Association President Pat Shipe said mediation sessions have been rescheduled from this week until Dec. 20, 27 and 28 because of illness on the union’s negotiating team.

APS teacher contract negotiations:'Make every effort to work together': APS, teachers union contract talks move to mediation

Teachers and other licensed professionals have been working under terms of the old contract since it expired June 30. The Akron Education Association union represents about 2,800 teachers and other licensed professionals, including school psychologists, librarians and counselors.

In a statement, Shipe said that while the union "believes improving technology surrounding metal detectors, cameras, and exterior door alarms is a good first step to prevent violence coming into our school buildings, we still believe there is a lot of work to be done to address the violence within our classrooms and hallways.”

APS using federal stimulus dollars to pay for metal detectors, X-ray machines

The metal detectors and X-ray machines are being purchased with federal pandemic-relief funds. This is a new source of money available for such use, Thompson said.

The cost of the cameras and software platform for the camera systems is about $1.7 million, and state grants will foot the bill.

An increasing number of schools are installing metal detectors or expanding their use of them. Some have criticized the use of detectors in schools, saying they make schools feel like prisons.

“I understand that sentiment,” Thompson said, adding, “I think safety and security actually trumps that. We need our kids to feel safe and we need our students to actually be safe.

“This gives them (parents, caregivers students) a sense of security, calmness that the district is taking security very seriously and putting our money where our mouths are.”

He stressed it’s a small number of students who are making bad decisions, affecting their fellow students.

The new detectors — with artificial intelligence that can detect the difference between metal — and the X-ray machines will eliminate the need for the individual backpack checks.

“I can have my backpack over my shoulder and walk through the new metal detector and as long as I don’t have anything I shouldn’t have, I can keep right on cruising,” Thompson said.

The X-ray machines will be used to check such items as backpacks and purses only when the detector’s alarm sounds and lights flash. Laptops will prompt the metal detector to sound a “false alert,” Thompson said.

The district will buy 61 metal detectors and 23 X-ray machines for 17 buildings. Along with the district's middle and high schools, the detectors and X-ray machines will be used at the Akron Alternative Academy, which offers online courses to help students graduate; the SOAR (Student Outreach Alternative Resource) facility for students who have been disciplined by the board and assigned to the SOAR program; and the Bridges facility for students in kindergarten through 12th grade with emotional or behavioral issues.

The district will buy the metal detectors from CEIA USA Ltd., with offices in Hudson. The X-ray machines will be purchased from a Smith Detection Group, with offices in Maryland.

These are the same metal detectors used by the Cleveland school district.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Public Schools Board Meeting: $1.7M for metal detectors approved