PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — WPTV is getting a better idea of what it could look like when the School District of Palm Beach County rolls out metal detectors at its high schools.
The Palm Beach County School Board on Wednesday approved a $2 million contract to buy the equipment district-wide, but Superintendent Mike Burke said they won't move forward with the purchase until they can evaluate a pilot program.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Education
"We've seen an uptick in weapons, both in our communities and our schools," said Curt Lavarello, the executive director of the School Safety Advocacy Council and a former Palm Beach County school resource officer.
Lavarello said schools across the country are having the metal detector discussion.
"What would be some of the advantages of putting them in place?" WPTV education reporter Stephanie Susskind asked Lavarello on Thursday.
"They're a visual," Lavarello replied. "People see a walk-through metal detector at the front of the school, it's like seeing that marked police car in front of the school. Those are the visuals that are a reminder that we are doing something to try to keep your kids safe."
But Lavarello said it's very expensive and it's not foolproof.
"The sad part is it's oftentimes a feel good kind of thing," Lavarello said.
The School District of Palm Beach County will pilot a metal detector program at John I. Leonard High School, Palm Beach Lakes Community High School, Seminole Ridge Community High School, and Palm Beach Gardens Community High School, where principals volunteered to take part.
WPTV has learned the district ordered walk-through, portable metal detectors from CEIA USA, an Ohio-based company, but supply chain issues have delayed their arrival.
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"I'm fairly confident this is going to work," Burke said during Wednesday's school board meeting.
With a big discussion and some concerns about how this will work, the school board Wednesday approved a contract, not to exceed $2.25 million, to purchase the equipment for all district high schools, after they can evaluate the pilot program.
"I would not execute a purchase order until we have the benefit of the pilot behind us and we can come back to the school board and debrief," Burke said.
"This is a step in the right direction, toward getting this district one step closer to there being less weapons on the campus every day. And parents deserve that and students sure as heck deserve that," school board member Alexandria Ayala said at Wednesday's meeting.
"I do have reservations, as mentioned by other people, about the false sense of security," school board member Karen Brill said Wednesday. "It sounds good, but it doesn't mean it's going to achieve what we want it to achieve."
Lavarello said it will take a lot of personnel and training to implement a metal detector program properly, and sometimes face-to-face interaction can be the best school safety tool.
"You look at historically where we are having success stopping weapons from coming onto campus, it's not the metal detectors. It's the people, things we do in schools, the connections we make with kids," Lavarello said. "If they're going to do it, make sure to do it right."
Chief Sarah Mooney of the School District of Palm Beach County's police department said the metal detector pilot program may begin over the summer and continue into next school year. She hopes to have everything in place district-wide by January of next year.
