PLANTATION, Fla. – There is a new normal at Broward County public high schools.
Students and visitors must walk through metal detectors as they arrive on campus.
Broward Schools Superintendent Howard Hepburn was on hand Wednesday for a demonstration of the new procedure at South Plantation High School.
“This is an additional layer of security for our schools,” said Hepburn. “To ensure safety and secure security of all staff and all students. If you have you ever been to an airport, if you have ever been through an athletic event, it is a similar situation.”
The goal is to stop guns, knives and other prohibited items from ending up inside a school.
There are non-dangerous items that can set off the metal detectors. Things like cellphones can trigger it and slow down the process. Besides electronics, three ring binders, umbrellas and even hard eyeglass cases can also set them off, just to name a few.
“Before you get to the metal detector, you want to remove these items out of your backpack so you could just go through with ease,” said Hepburn. “Somebody will be adjacent to the actual metal detectors. You hand it over. You walk through, they hand it back to you. If something else is on you that makes it go off. They’ll be a secondary station and a quick wand just to verify you don’t have anything that shouldn’t be on you, and you can go on with your day.”
The widespread rollout of these metal detectors comes after a successful pilot program that took place over the summer.
“Are we going to be very efficient on day one? No, we’re still working out the kinks,” said Hepburn.
Student advisor Landyn Spellberg says a survey showed the metal detectors are largely a welcome change.
“The majority of the feedback said that this will really make students feel more comfortable in their learning environments and also limit those distractions that we see because of weapons that are found on campuses,” said Spellberg.
Another less popular change involves cellphones, requiring students to keep phones off or in airplane mode throughout the school day.
“Some kids do abuse cellphones, but I don’t think that (it) should be completely taken away,” said senior Jailyn Ocasio.
Added senior Joss Collins: “It’s being taken away from the kids that use them for good.”