Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) will be introducing new security measures in middle and high schools for the 2023-2024 school year. Weapon detection systems and clear backpack policies are the county’s effort to provide a more secure learning environment for its students and a safer workplace for teachers and staff in the wake of several guns being found on school property over the last year.
Metal Detectors
The unveiling of these detectors follows the appointment of Millard House II, the new superintendent for PGCPS, the announcement coming 10 days after he took office. “The message here is to ensure that our community knows and understands that we want the safest environment possible. We want to modify and pivot as needed to make certain that we are making the necessary decisions that make sense around school safety,” says House.
The new detectors are developed by CEIA USA, the creator of most TSA airport checkpoint detectors. Schools will use portable detection towers, powered by batteries and operable through mobile devices. “The CEIA metal detectors are used for compliance with high-security standards and allow easy access at both medium and high transfer rates,” according to the CEIA brochure. They also “allow extreme transit flow or throughput and no nuisance alarms.” An informational video about the machines posted on PGCPS’ YouTube channel on the first day of school shows students walking through the Open Gate system without removing their backpacks. However, it instructs students that they should have their laptops out when they arrive on campus, to hand to a staff member before walking through. “It will also identify other contraband items that are not allowed on school property,” states the video. “All students and all visitors to campus during regular school hours will be required to enter through the Open Gate System and are subject to search,” it announces.
An initial contract suggests 31 systems will cost the school district nearly $523,000. That does include $2,500 in training, but maintenance is not specified and PGCPS hasn’t announced its plans or the cost implications for staffing the machines. Their instructional video shows multiple staff at the ready to take and return laptops, monitor the detection light and conduct searches if the light turns red.
The detectors are expected to make their way to all public high schools in the county over the course of the year. “We have listened to our community and what we are going to do is start specifically with our high schools, not all high schools, but we will be starting with a group in terms of security enhancements,” says House. Initial high schools include Oxon Hill, Central, Bowie, High Point, Suitland and Dr. Henry A. Wise.
Heightened Safety
The decision to implement these security measures was strongly influenced by recent incidents that have shaken the community’s sense of safety in the schools. In an obvious example of the urgency, a 17-year-old student was found in possession of a firearm, tucked in his belt, on the first day of summer school at Central High School in July. Two months prior, in May, three teenagers boarded a PGCPS school bus and attempted to shoot a student onboard. The Board of Education’s May meeting came the following week and during the public comment section there were several calls to address school safety.
Martin Diggs, president of ACE-AFSCME 2250, which represents educational support personnel in PGCPS, said there was an “alarming pattern of inadequacies” in safety. “We said this was going to happen,” he said of the attempted murder. “Not enough is being done to keep our staff and our students safe. We have a duty to make sure that we make these places safe for everyone and they’re not safe.” “There’s a lot of people who are not feeling safe at their work locations,” he told the board. “We do not want the school yards to be the graveyard.”
Phyllis Wright, Parent Teacher Organization president at William Hall Academy, said student and staff safety needed to be addressed and that they’d had several incidents at their school. “I’m hoping and praying this year, moving forward in September, that we will have metal detectors in not just high schools but in each and every one of our schools and even on the buses,” she told the board.
Detectors for ERHS
When detectors will arrive at Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS) remains unclear; the timeline has shifted but some statements claimed the machines should be in place at all high schools by the end of January.
Parents have already begun to show their hesitation about the installation. Randy Ontiveros, a parent of a student at ERHS, explained his dislike for the timing of the announcement. “It felt like it was announced in the middle of summer when no one was really paying attention. I don’t remember any discussion about a debate around this topic,” he says. “One of the dangers of weapons detectors is that it can give you an illusion that you solved the problem and have done something to prevent the unimaginable, but the reality is, it takes more than weapons detectors to really get to the root of what causes this type of violence,” says Ontiveros.
Clear Backpacks
In addition to the weapon detectors being installed in schools, PGCPS has also introduced a clear backpack policy for high schools that went into effect this week. PGCPS will evaluate the policy for middle schoolers at the end of the first semester and communicate any additional changes before the end of winter break, they say.
Not everyone in the community is completely on board with the clear backpack policy. Kamya Tarver, a senior at Dr. Henry A. Wise where both the detectors and backpack policy will be active this fall, has mixed feelings toward privacy. “Girls … have stuff that we need to take care of on our own, so it’s not like we want to walk around and have clear backpacks. A girl could walk around and have her stuff be seen and she might get bullied for that or get made fun of,” says Tarver, though the administration has approved small opaque pouches for personal items. “I also feel like we should be addressing the bigger issue …, I feel like administration said ‘Here give them clear backpacks, that will fix everything,’ and thought that everything would be good.”
High schooler Noah Eubanks returned to ERHS for 11th grade on Monday and is carrying a clear backpack for the first time. However, he’s also taking with him a regular duffle bag with his cross-country gear. Some days he’ll be carrying a trombone in a large black case, too. The parent of another ERHS student said, “It seems so silly.” Her daughter donned a clear backpack for school, as required, but also carried her large, solid black sports gear bag for soccer. “I get that they are trying to keep our kids safe, and I appreciate it,” said the Greenbelt mom. “It just frustrates me that what we really need are sensible gun laws, not a bunch of clear backpacks.”