Palm Beach County Schools to spend $2.25M on new metal detectors. Where will they go?
Following what school leaders called a successful pilot program at four schools, the Palm Beach County School District plans to spend more than $2 million to roll out freestanding metal detectors at all 24 high schools.
Superintendent Mike Burke said at the Oct. 4 school board meeting that he plans to spend $2.25 million on metal detectors from the Italy-based company Ceia USA.
"Our schools are safer as a result of these devices. The equipment is first-rate, it's working, (and) we're not having glitches," Burke said at the meeting.
Burke did not say when he hopes to roll out the metal detectors at the schools. The district plans to buy 75 metal detectors for an average of about four sets per high school.
What to know: New metal detectors arrive at 4 Palm Beach County schools. What to know about them
Currently, John I. Leonard, Palm Beach Lakes, Seminole Ridge and Palm Beach Gardens high schools have metal detectors at their entrances as part of a $250,000 pilot program. Although the schools needed to adapt to corralling 2,000 students through the metal detectors, Burke told reporters in August that none of the schools in the program had needed to delay the start of classes.
The OpenGate scanners are freestanding pairs of battery-operated metal detectors that students walk through. They are calibrated to detect large metal items, multicaliber weapons and improvised explosive devices, according to the company's website.
Occasionally, three-ring binders and large umbrellas have set off the scanners, School Police Chief Sarah Mooney said in June. The scanners do not detect Tasers, pepper spray, cellphones, jewelry or piercings, vapes or electronic cigarettes.
Currently, there are no plans to install metal detectors at either middle or elementary schools.
Do metal detectors work?
About 8% of high schools across the country scan students daily with metal detectors, according to the most recent data available from the National Center for Education Statistics for the 2019-20 school year.
All Broward County schools use handheld metal detectors to scan students for potential weapons.
Miami-Dade County schools use random metal-detecting scans but don't have permanent metal detectors on campuses, according to district records.
More on Palm Beach's pilot program: Palm Beach County school leaders OK $2.25M for metal detectors at all high schools
About 14% of high schools across the U.S. use random scanning, the data show.
During the course of one school year, 57% of weapons confiscated in New York public schools were found without using a metal-detection device, according to a 2019 report from the WestEd Justice and Prevention Research Center.
The report said for every 23,000 students scanned, just one dangerous item was found.
Complicating the findings, according to the WestEd report, in some cases, some school staff members were not properly trained to use the metal detectors, or the equipment did not work correctly.
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Others studying the matter say metal detectors may serve as a deterrent. If students know they'll be scanned when they enter schools, they may be less likely to try to bring weapons to campus.
Mooney says there's a psychological component, too.
"If this helps them feel safer coming into school, that's half the battle," she said in June.
Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work. Subscribe today!
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County Schools to buy metal detectors for all high schools
