HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Earlier this month at the workshop meeting of the Christian County Board of Education, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jason Wilson discussed possible changes to security protocols at Christian County High School. The district has the option to add additional equipment that will work alongside their existing weapons detection system to both increase safety and move students through the security process faster.
Over 2,000 CCHS students walk through the weapons detection system every morning before they enter the main part of the building. They are set up at every entrance to accommodate bus riders, drop off and student drivers no matter what entrance they come to. An additional bag search may be implemented if the machines detect specific types of metal or items are flagged, which has been causing delays in student entry this school year.
Christian County Public Schools first implemented weapons detection systems around four years ago at the high school level. It was eventually utilized at after school activities such as graduations and sporting events, both indoors and outdoors. Currently these security processes are overseen by CCPS Police officers, support staff, administrators and teachers as needed depending on the event or staffing.
New scanner could make bag checks faster at CCHS, free test process
The same company that supplies their current system has an additional scanner that can be purchased to eliminate or minimize manual bag checks. Similar to how it is done at airports, the new scanner handles bags that are flagged, and they would go through a sort of x-ray to allow staff to see inside. Through the company, CCHS would be able to try the scanner at no cost while a decision is made.
“We are going to go ahead and bring in two scanning systems and just try them out and see if it is more efficient,” Superintendent Chris Bentzel later told Christian County Now. “When we say ‘try it out’ we’ll put test weapons – plastic weapons – in the bags and run them through and let our students walk through them.”
Bag checks are a critical point of safety and are thoroughly done to ensure no items are missed. However common school items like three-ring binders, umbrellas and Chromebooks often alert for a bag check, which slows entry in the morning. Wilson said at the meeting, “Ultimately what we’ve got to do is just speed up the entry…it’s not the machines themselves, it’s the secondary searches that have to happen.”
Bentzel emphasized that their goal is to maintain a safe learning environment by keeping weapons out of the school while not overloading staff with additional duties so they can focus on instruction.
Board members and CCPS Police will monitor the test process and determine if it not only works as well as a regular bag search, but if it actually saves time. After the tests are done, any purchase of equipment will have to be approved by the board depending on the outcome.