Fairfax County to install weapons detectors at all high schools for upcoming academic year
Weapons detectors installation in all high schools across Fairfax County
FCPS are planning to install weapons detectors in all public high schools over this summer.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Virginia’s largest school district, Fairfax County Public Schools, plans to make weapons detectors a permanent fixture at all its high schools.
What we know:
The plan is to install the weapons detectors over the summer and the rollout will be complete by the time school starts this fall for all Fairfax County Public high schools.
"We were having some issues in our schools just like everywhere else in the country and I just think that FCPS has now taken steps to ensure that they’re keeping not just the staff safe but also the students which is our main priority," said Leslie Houston, President of the Fairfax Education Association.
Fairfax County Public Schools declined to comment on camera about the permanent weapons detectors being installed at high schools district wide.
Instead, a spokesperson for the school district emailed FOX 5 saying, "we are continuing to phase in a weapons detection system at all FCPS high schools this fall."
Big picture view:
Right now, the weapons detectors are installed at five FCPS high schools. The manufacturer tells FOX 5 they will install ten weapons detectors this summer at FCPS high schools and the FCPS security team will be trained and responsible for installing the weapons detectors at the remainder of the district’s high schools.
This comes just a couple of months after a 15-year-old student stabbed a classmate at West Potomac High School.
FOX 5 spoke with the safety and security coach for the weapons detector manufacturer being used by FCPS.
"The open gate which is the model they’ve decided to go with is designed really to, and we call it weapons detector because it can let a lot of metal through but find the mass casualty threat, find the gun, find the knife.
"They can set it for a very small knife but if you set it for a very small knife, then students can’t carry backpacks and purses and things like that," said Tom McDermott, the K-12 Safety and Security Coach for CEIA USA.
Most school districts across the country are installing weapons detectors at high schools but could roll this out to elementary and middle schools in the near future. The weapons detectors cost around $18,000 each.