Hempfield Area votes to spend $100K to double its weapons detector devices

After purchasing six weapons detectors for its schools in advance of the academic year, the Hempfield Area School District will double up on its security measures.

The district purchased six OpenGate weapons detectors for more than $111,000 in July. The devices — two parallel poles that create a gate for students to walk through — cost about $18,000 each. They were tested by the district this year.

The school board Monday night unanimously voted to buy six more of the devices with more than $103,500 from the district’s general fund budget. Students at the high school, Harrold School and two middle schools will walk through the weapons detectors everyday, Superintendent Mark Holtzman said.

“There’s some planning going into that and training. But it’s going to be an opportunity to ensure the safety of our students and the visitors and staff of our schools,” he said. “We’re making some well-needed moves in the right direction when it comes to school safety and our processes.”

The board also voted to pay $2,500 stipends to staff members who agree to operate and monitor the weapons detectors each morning.

“I think this is a great step forward,” board President Jerry Radebaugh said. “We ordered the ones earlier in the year to make sure that they would work, and everything was going good.

“They were usable, and everything checked out on them. So we said we were going to order the rest at a future date, and today’s that date.”

The devices should be set up in a week or two, Holtzman said.

Once the district is comfortable operating the detectors at the middle and high schools, the board will look into purchasing devices for the elementary schools and operating them during after-school activities, Holtzman said.

The district in April sought $450,000 in state grants to pay for more detectors, but that request was denied.

Security upgrades have been discussed by the district since October, when three high school students were caught exchanging two loaded handguns on a bus and in a school bathroom. The district formed a safety committee in response.

There have been no issues with weapons brought to school buildings since students returned in August, Holtzman said. The district has conducted random searches of students the past two months in buildings where weapons detectors are not present.

Holtzman anticipates support for the weapons detectors by administration, staff and community members — particularly after the series of unfounded threats against schools in Western Pennsylvania this month.

There were at least nine districts affected by threats of violence in the region from Sept. 6 to 11, following a school shooting that killed four and injured nine in Winder, Ga., a week prior.

False bomb and school shooting threats were made Friday against Pine-Richland School District. The Burrell and Fox Chapel Area school districts planned a flexible instruction day and two-hour delay Tuesday after concerning social media posts were reported Monday by students.

“I think that’s exciting to create more safety features in our schools,” Holtzman said, “and I think this will solve a lot of hesitation when it comes to these unsubstantiated threats and things that are shared via social media.

“We’re able to kind of control the narrative with the safety of children and visitors and folks coming to our schools.”