Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

PA High School Increases Policing of Students, Citing Greater Need in New, Larger Building

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/25/19

A new Pennsylvania high school will be running students through metal detectors. Thomas Jefferson High School, which opens in August, is replacing an older school down the block, where the use of a metal detector was piloted last year.

Each day, between 130 and 150 students were designated to walk through the metal detector and have bags checked prior to gaining to entry. The goal was to allow district administrators at West Jefferson Hills School District to collect data regarding security check timing and configuration of the settings on the metal detector. Then in August 2018, the board approved purchase of two additional metal detectors to test the capacity of the school to have every student walk through and have his or her bag checked without lengthy delays. That approval covered the purchase of two additional Garrett 6500i walk-through metal detectors from Markl Supply Company at a cooperative purchasing price of $7,548.

At the same time the board also approved a memorandum of understanding with the Jefferson Federation of Teachers to create four additional metal detector "monitor" positions, up from two. The six teachers are contracted to start their days 15 minutes early to search student bags for guns, knives, tobacco and certain medicines.

Local reporting stated that the district has also hired an additional school police officer, which will double the number at the high school. The school also has two security guards, up from one at the previous location.

When the new school opens, students arriving by bus will enter the building through a back entrance; all other people will come through the front. Three monitors will check bags at the front and three at the back.

The additional security measures were necessary, said school officials, because the new building is a third larger than the previous one, 300,000 square feet compared to 190,000 square feet.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Cleveland High School Breaks Ground on Modernization

    Portland Public Schools in Portland, Ore., recently announced that construction has begun on a modernization project for Cleveland High School, according to a news release. The existing building will be replaced with a new, 300,000-square-foot facility at the same site.

  • school building with glowing circuit board patterns

    AI Is Coming to Schools — But Most School Buildings Still Run on Institutional Memory

    As school districts race to introduce AI into classrooms, administration, and curriculum planning, another conversation is happening behind the scenes: How prepared are school facilities themselves for the operational demands AI will create?

  • Building Beyond Simulation: Creating Immersive Ecosystems for Healthcare Education

    Health sciences education is one of the fastest-growing facility types in colleges and universities. The demand for medical, nursing, and allied health professionals is driving the creation and renovation of medical simulation training facilities that provide students with real-world experience through advanced simulation-based learning.

  • New Jersey Day School Opens New Science & Entrepreneurship Building

    Saddle River Day School (SRDS) in Saddle River, N.J., recently celebrated the grand opening of the new Dr. Kristen Walsh Hall of Science & Entrepreneurship, according to a news release. The school partnered with DIG Architecture on the 32,000 square foot facility, completed on a 17-month construction timeline in time for the beginning of the new school year.