Backpacks, metal, weapons detectors discussed at Hempfield security committee meeting

Hempfield Area School District’s new security committee met for the first time this week and mulled ways the district can improve safety.

It was formed in response to recent security incidents at Hempfield and is made up of administrators, school board members Mike Alfery, Scott Learn, Diane Ciabattoni and Jeanne Smith, and representatives from the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office, school police and Pennsylvania State Police.

Backpack rule changes, metal and weapon detector use, and alterations to the district’s search policy were all discussed as potential steps forward during the meeting.

On Oct. 2, school officials and police caught three boys with two loaded handguns — a .38-caliber and a .22-caliber — on a school bus and in a school bathroom, prompting a lockdown that lasted several hours. The students are being charged with felonies in juvenile court, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. High school students were searched with metal detector wands before entering the building for several days following the incident.

Last week, an 11-year-old Wendover Middle School student was accused of posting threats on social media to bring in a bomb and “shoot up” the school. The boy was arrested at his home Oct. 10, and while firearms were found in the home, the student did not have them, police said. No explosive devices were found in the home, and police do not have evidence that the student was actually engaged in explosives-related activity.

No votes were taken at the meeting, and some portions of it were held in private executive session due to discussions about sensitive information. Superintendent Tammy Wolicki noted that any outcomes from the meeting would be discussed at the next school board meeting Oct. 23.

Alfery emphasized that the public will not know about some security initiatives.

“The public will never know what we have in place to detect or prevent something 100%,” he said. “There’s certain things we can talk about in here, but I want to make sure that everyone knows, there are things that you guys will never know. … We don’t want to make an announcement, ‘Here’s what we have, here’s what we’re going to use, here’s how we are going to use it.’ ”

Pros and cons

During the public portion of the meeting, Wolicki and officials went over pros and cons of security moves the district could implement, some of which were previously discussed in meetings between district and high school administration.

Solicitor Krisha DiMascio noted that the district could change its search policy, which requires a “reasonable suspicion” to conduct one. She noted that the district has reasonable suspicion to continue with searches because of the recent security incidents.

“You certainly as a school entity have the ability to do a search when you want, as long as we have a clearly defined policy that is fair to all students and is equally applied to all students and doesn’t target particular students,” she said. “We can certainly make those language changes if we need to. I think that would provide for some surprise (inspections) throughout the year, that we could do whenever the administration felt would be appropriate.”

Wolicki discussed the pros and cons of metal and weapon detectors. Weapon detectors are scanning devices that are designed to identify specific items, and students can walk through them while holding their bags.

Wolicki noted that the biggest challenge for the district is student bags and belongings. Morning searches take about 45 minutes at the high school as staff go through each bag individually with metal detector wands, she said.

The committee also discussed the idea of banning backpacks from the school or requiring students to carry clear ones. Downsides of this idea include difficulties for students carrying items and folders from class to class, or for athletes carrying bags.

“Our students do not use their lockers. They tend to carry everything in their backpacks,” Wolicki said, noting that the layout of the high school is sprawling.

High school Principal David Palmer noted that clear backpacks are limited in availability and durability, and they are small relative to how much students carry to class.

Wolicki said the district could fund security upgrades through reallocating grant funds from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency or potentially from interest through bond funds.