Hempfield Area looks to other districts to research security upgrades

Hempfield Area School District’s security committee is still its weighing options to upgrade procedures and equipment.

District leaders visited three Pennsylvania schools over the past several weeks to learn what security protocols and equipment work best to keep weapons off campus, interim Superintendent Kimberlie Rieffannacht said at a meeting of the committee this week.

The district did not reveal which schools were visited. Hempfield Area officials have been mulling safety upgrades after two unrelated security incidents in October.

Three high school students were caught exchanging two loaded handguns on a bus and in a school bathroom, and a Wendover Middle School student was accused of posting threats on social media to bring in a bomb and “shoot up” the school.

After the incidents, the district formed a new safety committee, which has met multiple times. Because the new entity is a committee, no topics are voted on at the meetings, but their recommendations are relayed to the school board. Some sensitive security topics are discussed in private executive session.

Among the options on the table at Hempfield are purchasing or renting metal detectors or weapons detectors, including some that would incorporate AI technology, board member Mike Alfery said.

A more high-tech weapons detector system would likely require a purchase instead of a rental, because the district would need to include wiring upgrades, Alfery explained. He described it as “another layer of security.”

“There are definitely different functionalities and options with these AI weapons detectors,” Rieffannacht said. “That’s something we’ll have to continue to explore and talk about philosophy and approach to utilizing them, and what would be the best fit.”

All three of the schools visited by Hempfield Area incorporated bag scans or checks, Rieffannacht said. To incorporate that in the district’s security plan would mean finding enough staff to conduct the searches, which could pose an obstacle.

Alfery emphasized that all technology needs a certain level of staffing support, no matter how high-tech it may seem.

“Even if the scanner goes off, you have to have a person monitoring the scanner, a police officer there and someone physically checking the bag,” he said. “There may be potential staffing hurdles, but unfortunately, no matter how good the technology is, that doesn’t go away.”

In December, the school board voted to change district search policy to allow student searches even if there has not been a recent security concern. Since the October incidents, the district has had enhanced patrols by state, county and school resource officers, Alfery said.

Teachers and staff in buildings have been more vigilant about safety in the months since the incidents, focusing on closing doors and keeping track of potential security problems, Rieffannacht said.

“We’re still on heightened alert,” Alfery said.