Hempfield Area security committee 'ironing out details' before renting metal detectors

Hempfield Area School District is considering additional metal or weapons detectors for its buildings, but options to safeguard its schools could depend on staffing levels and training, members of the new security committee said.

At the committee’s meeting this week, board member Mike Alfery said the group is considering renting metal detectors after security incidents in the district last month.

In those two unrelated incidents, 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.

The committee is looking at products from multiple companies and will need to review staffing and procedures before making a decision. It was not clear which buildings would receive detectors or where they would be located.

The district has considered a conveyor belt metal detector system for backpacks, which Alfery noted would need additional staffing and training, as well as a “learning curve” of making students don’t carry items that could set off the machines, such as hair dryers.

“We have to discuss internally how it’s staffed and how it’s monitored,” he said, noting that the district could receive the detectors within a few days once they are approved.

“We pretty much have everything in hand, we just have to iron out some details … I certainly think we can vote to approve it, but we still have to have a really solid discussion with everybody on campus — all the buildings — about how that looks. What we don’t want to do is have them and do test runs while the kids are standing in the parking lot.”

Prices are “all over the board” depending on products, Alfery said. “It really just depends on what we choose and which one we want to use.”

Staffing may be more of a challenge, he said, as two or three people may be needed to operate one machine. Interim Superintendent Kimberlie Rieffannacht said planning ahead on staffing and operation of the security devices is essential.

“How do we make sure that it is efficient, and (does) not disrupt our students to the point that we are missing instructional time?” she said. “Safety is obviously that priority, but we need to make sure it works correctly.”

Board member Jeanne Smith suggested trying out the metal detector program in one of the district’s buildings before expanding it.

“I just really would like to see it move forward quickly,” Smith said. “I think the kids have voiced their concerns many times, and I don’t want to see them being kept scared.”

Alfery said he had talked to student council representatives at the high school about their concerns about safety. Some students have spoken up at recent school board meetings.

“It’s not happening as quickly as everyone would like, but we also have to make sure we do it right,” he said.

Past response lead-up

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

Since the Oct. 2 incident when school officials and police caught three boys with two loaded handguns, the district has had enhanced patrols by state, county and school resource officers, Alfery said. The high school continues to do periodic metal detector wanding and searches, he noted, and is discussing other surveillance equipment behind the scenes in executive sessions.

The meeting Wednesday also touched on expanding mental health response and crisis or trauma communication programs, and inviting a State Police official to talk to students about online safety.

A new section to the district’s search policy, defining rules for the use of metal and weapons detectors, was approved for 30-day review at a board meeting Oct. 23. It will be voted upon at a school board meeting in December.

The policy would allow the district to conduct searches of students and their belongings with metal or weapons detectors regardless of whether there has been a security incident at the district.

At a security committee meeting in October, members considered the pros and cons of altering the policy, implementing metal or weapons detectors in the district, banning backpacks or requiring clear backpacks.