There’s no getting around it, the debut of walk-through metal detectors at Broward County’s public high schools was embarrassing for the school district. On the first day of school, thousands of students were stuck outside of their schools in long lines, bogged down by the metal detector process.
But the school district turned things around on day two.
Superintendent Dr. Howard Hepburn was at Cypress Bay High School in Weston early this morning, shouting instructions through a bullhorn at the arriving students.
“Take out your laptops, you’ll move through the line quicker,” Hepburn said to the students at the district’s biggest school, which was a total mess Monday.
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It was all hands on deck to steer the ship away from the rocks. Student horror stories sound exactly like what Lily McNulty, a junior at South Broward High School, told us when we asked if she got inside on time yesterday.
“No, I got to class at like, 8:30!” McNulty said.
The first bell rings at 7:40.
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But yesterday’s disaster turned into today’s triumph. All across the district, students moved efficiently through the metal detectors without creating long delays.
“What a difference a day makes,” Hepburn said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “Based on some adjustments we made as staff, based on communications we sent out to our students to better prepare before they actually get to the systems, and that paid dividends, once our students get their routines down, we won’t have any issues in any of our schools.”
Hepburn said at most high schools Monday, most of the students beat the bell, making it inside on time. I asked him if the district turned the sensitivity down on the metal detectors.
“So there was some recalibration of some systems, there were some adjustments made on some systems since it was brand new, it still goes off with what we are trying to check for which are weapons, knives and firearms,” Hepburn responded.
If they’re adding more security and protection without causing delays, one parent told us she favors the metal detectors.
“I think it’s worth it, for the safety of the students and the faculty,” said Tamara Font, who told us her son made it into South Broward High School today without a delay.
The school district installed additional metal detectors at some of its larger schools, including Cypress Bay. The superintendent said there would be more tweaks to the system with the goal being to have all students in class, on time, by the end of the week.
