Springfield school board approves metal detectors: 'All of us want our schools to be safe'

Springfield School District 186 board of education member Buffy Lael-Wolf speaking prior to the board's vote Monday on implementing metal detectors in the three public schools and two alternative schools.
Springfield School District 186 board of education member Buffy Lael-Wolf speaking prior to the board's vote Monday on implementing metal detectors in the three public schools and two alternative schools.

The Springfield School District 186 board of education capped a long and sometimes emotional debate over metal detectors Monday by unanimously approving implementation in the three high schools as well as at Douglas Prep and Lawrence Education Center.

The vote was for the purchase of 18 CEIA Opengate units for Lanphier, Southeast and Springfield high schools plus PMD2 detectors for the alternative schools.

The cost was $131,000 for the walk-through detectors, which will be installed by the end of the school year, barring any delays. Another lease proposal the board considered would have cost the district a little over $1 million.

The district's four middle schools will be in line for the detectors when construction on those facilities wraps up.

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That will take a separate action by the board.

Superintendent Jennifer Gill said it was "a facilities expense" meaning that revenue raised by the 1% sales tax hike approved by Sangamon County voters could be used.

The issue gained traction after Pierre V. Scott, a Lanphier High School senior, was fatally stabbed outside of the school on Nov. 17 with students and other community leaders voicing their approval of added security.

Other incidents highlighted the need for the detectors, supporters said. A gun fell out of a Southeast student's bag on March 2, prompting a lockdown of the school.

Several board members explained their "yes" votes before Monday's action.

Buffy Lael-Wolf of Subdistrict 5 cautioned earlier about metal detectors being "a panacea."

"All of us want our schools to be safe and none of us want a negative perception of our schools or our students who attend there," Lael-Wolf said Monday. "I do understand and hear the concern regarding dialing-up our safety measures and feeling that these devices will turn the volume up too high, but our kids have suffered from remote learning, from loss of family members, elevated stress levels and heightened anxiety and the emotional-social needs of our kids is at an all-time high."

Lael-Wolf added she though there was a sense of urgency to the matter "but not to do something for the sake of doing something. I think we've reviewed extensively what it would mean if we installed these devices versus what it would mean if we did not."

The district should also have some follow-up metrics after the installation, she said, like the rate of confiscation of items and the number of arrests on school property.

While it is not "the end-all, be-all," Eric Austin of Subdistrict 6 said students want to feel safe.

"They asked for this," Austin said. "Students have the greatest stake in their education, but with little to no say in how it's delivered."

Mike Zimmers of Subdistrict 4 has in the past voiced constituents' concerns about the perceptions about having metal detectors in schools.

"At the same time," Zimmers said, "we're hearing from students and parents and community members that this is something they would really like to see. I think more the students than anybody swayed my opinion. If they're feeling it, then I think we need to honor it."

Gill called the detectors "a continuum of security that we have in our schools that starts with the work of our social-emotional learning and our mental health services for our students and our outreach to our community. I do think it's one piece of a larger puzzle."

The detectors are mobile, Gill said, and students won't have to open bookbags when they pass through.

The schools will continue to utilize security personnel they have in place at those schools, but may address that issue further down the road as well, Gill added.

New school for south side?

Conversation about construction of a new elementary school on the city's south side has most recently included Southern View, in addition to Hazel Dell and Laketown.

Southern View entered the fray, Gill admitted, within the last calendar year. The consolidation of Hazel Dell and Laketown was part of the facilities master plan dating back to 2017.

Related: Southern View Elementary now being considered for part of consolidation plan

All three of the schools have "structural deficiencies" that have to be addressed, Gill pointed out.

Neither Hazel Dell nor Laketown have air conditioning, something "we battled all year, even under COVID. We were concerned about that," she said. The main part of Southern View dates from the 1930s and was built with World War I bonds.

"That core structure is going to be difficult to renovate to the same standards that we could build a brand new elementary school," Gill said. "So it could make a lot of fiscal sense to do that when you look at the renovations versus the new costs."

Additionally, all three schools have seen enrollments decrease. Southern View is the largest of the three schools with 169 students. Combined, the three schools would have an enrollment of 450 students.

An eight-page guideline released last week identifies an 11th Street property as having "the highest potential for a new school facility."

While the new school would be central to all three current schools, the district doesn't own the site.

The 13.2-acre property is the former site of H.D. Smith Co.'s corporate office. H.D. Smith was a privately held pharmaceutical wholesaler acquired by the Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania-based AmerisourceBergen in 2018. That property was not part of the acquisition.

Years ago, it was the site of Fiatallis, which left Springfield in 1985.

The presentation by Gill set off a series of questions by Micah Miller of Subdistrict 2. He wanted a feasibility study of the construction of a building on the current Laketown site, taking in Hazel Dell and Laketown schools.

Miller said he hasn't seen "significant details about problems" architects have run into at Southern View.

Gill met with Southern View President Mike Patsche Monday. The village's offices are just south of the school.

Gill termed the meeting with Patsche "cordial and constructive."

The public will get its say at meetings at each of the three schools: Hazel Dell on March 29; Southern View on April 6 and Laketown on April 12. All meetings will begin at 6 p.m.

Moment of silence

The school board held a moment of silence for a Jane Addams Elementary fifth-grader who was the victim of what Springfield Police have called "an accidental shooting."

Cameron Bentley's funeral was held Monday.

Gill said the district making a donation to the family's fund and there was a large contingent at Bentley's funeral.

Bentley's former principal at Dubois Elementary, Donna Jefferson, described him as "kind-hearted."

"Cameron was a friend and he wanted to be a friend," Jefferson said last week. "He was inquisitive, funny, just a sweet boy. You couldn't get angry at him. He had a little mischievous way about him that was very innocent and child-like. He was honest to a fault. If I ever needed to speak with him about anything, I knew what I would get from him would be the truth.

"He was just the nicest little boy. Your heart just aches for Cameron and his family."

Two longtime District 186 employees who was passed away recently were also recognized.

Sandy Wands was an English teacher at Feitshans High School and Southeast High School. Wands sponsored the student council and coached the cheerleader and pompon squads.

Wands coached girls track at Southeast for one season, sending eight girls to the state meet. She was inducted into the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame as a Friend of Sport in 1996.

Marilyn Hart was a secretary for nearly three decades. Her husband, Bob Hart, was the principal of Butler Elementary for many years.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield, IL school board approves purchase of metal detectors