District 49 considering adding portable metal detector to secure schools during threats
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - District 49 in El Paso County is now considering adding a portable metal detector and metal detector wands to the district after increased, non-credible and non-specific threats nationwide.
The district says they are currently in the process of buying the metal detector system, which includes an "open-gate" portable metal detector and metal detector wands from CEIA USA. It will cost the district around $20,500 to implement and purchase the new system.
The district plans to deploy the metal detector system in any Middle, High, or Elementary school in response to a threat. They say they will lock down other exits and entrances, if necessary when they deploy the system.
"We're proactively getting metal detectors in place so that when we need to have a reaction to social media... we'll be able to deploy the metal detectors, the countermeasure," Lewis Fletcher, the Executive director of Facilities and Operations for District 49 said.
They say they will notify parents before or after they deploy the system, depending on the situation.
The district says they've always had the power to add metal detectors, but had opted out in the past because parents and other sources had drawn concern.
"Some of the literature [said] We don't [want to] make our schools like prisons ... But what we do see now and still consulting with our community ... saying it's reasonable to say that if something is heightened, we should be able to respond to that," Fletcher said.
On Wednesday night, they will do a work session on the new policy, which the school board will vote on in October.
