After spring break, Fairfax County Public Schools will begin pilot testing a weapons detection system at its high schools, Superintendent Michelle Reid said in an email to parents Thursday.
FCPS will deploy 15 Open Gate devices to a randomly selected high school or secondary school in the division. The devices are similar to metal detectors but are more sensitive, making them more likely to alert security to a possible weapon but less likely to cause false alarms, FCPS said. Still, it said that items that are allowed at school could set off the alert and require a secondary screening.
School communities will not be given advance notice about when the devices will be used. The devices may remain at a selected school for several days.
The scanners are freestanding. Students will need to remove their laptops from their bags and hand them to a staff member, who will return it after the student walks through the scanner.
Feature image, istock.adobe.com
