Inevitable, I suppose. Ridiculous, but inevitable.
Houston ISD will introduce new weapons detection systems to its high school campuses in the spring semester after experiencing an uptick in confiscated weapons in the 2024-25 school year.
More than 10 guns have been confiscated from HISD schools since the start of the school year, putting the district on track to outpace previous years, interim police chief Shamara Garner said. While the district did not disclose the number of metal detectors that would be installed, Garner said HISD will implement one lane for every 600 students enrolled.
“I need not say much about the uptick of weapons discovered on our campuses and the climate within our nation,” Garner said. “Our number one most important priority is the safety of our students.”
Students can walk through the portable OpenGate systems without removing their bags, although they must hand laptops and other devices to nearby staff. If the light at the top of the system turns red, students will then be searched by staff members for further inspection. Two employees will staff each lane, and HISD police will provide assistance if a threat is detected but will not assist in staffing.
Houston ISD and other districts across the country experienced an influx of school threats following the Sept. 4 Georgia high school shooting and the current social media environment, experts told the Houston Chronicle in September.
FBI Houston received 66 school-related threats to life in September, up from 13 that month both in 2023 and in 2022. HISD, the state’s largest district, said Sept. 23 seven student arrests were made in connection to hoax threats. Several HISD schools have experienced lockdowns this school year due to weapons detected on campus, stabbings and other threats.
Garner said the district was in “active discussions” on purchasing metal detectors in September, an idea echoed days later by state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles in a virtual parent town hall.
I get it, and I’m not going to argue against it. This is the world we live in, and even if we could get the kind of gun control laws we deserve in place tomorrow, the culture isn’t going to change any time soon. These will be fully rolled out to all district high schools by the end of the spring semester – I’ll have to ask Audrey what she sees at her school – and that will come with a restriction to one point of entry for students at each school. It is what it is.
Not mentioned anywhere in the story – the cost, and how much of any of it will be picked up by the state. Note that just installing the machines isn’t the end of it – they will need to be maintained and eventually replaced, they will need people who have been trained in their use to operate them, and so on. It would be nice to know how much this will cost us, now and going forward.