This school year, new metal detectors have been installed at the entrances of each building as part of an updated security policy. The devices are designed to screen students and visitors as they enter the building while only needing to remove Chromebooks from their case before walking through them.
According to school officials, the change is intended to strengthen morning safety procedures, as there have been recent issues with students bringing contraband into the building. The faculty came together as early as last year to discuss the introduction of newer, better metal detectors in order to move along morning safety procedures quicker and more efficiently.
“We’re always reevaluating what we’re doing when it comes to safety,” Principal Andrew Neely said. “The decision actually goes back to at least the last school year, we had learned that there were a couple different schools in our area that had changed out and upgraded their metal detectors.”
The change marks a significant step in the district’s approach to preventing potential threats and ensuring a secure environment for students and staff, with an emphasis on the primary goal of the new system to stop dangerous items from entering school grounds.
“The biggest thing that we’re concerned about is making sure that we prevent any type of weapon from entering the school,” Neely said. “So that would include, obviously, firearms, but also things like knives, anything that has the high potential to cause a lot of harm.”
District officials say the goal is to create a safer learning environment for the future of the school and to prevent potential threats before they reach school grounds.
“The newer weapon detectors that we purchased and we are implementing now are the future, the optics of moving forward with security searches and seizures on schools,” Director of AASD Police, Bill Pfeffer said.
The new devices being used are common at most big events and venues and help detect certain types of metal without requiring the user to remove all metal items from their person.
“These are the devices that you’ll see at most sporting events,” Pfeffer said. “They’re used by the United States Secret Service, they’re used by the Department of Defense and they’re also used in federal prisons.”
As students enter the building, staff members play a vital role in maintaining the efficiency and safety of the new metal detector process. The recent implementation of these security measures marks a significant change in daily routine for staff and students alike.
While these new measures have altered morning operations and let staff take a step back from searching and wanding students, they still have an impact on daily safety measures.
When using the old metal detectors, students often struggled with getting to class on time, which was becoming a problem. What was intended to increase safety instead caused delays and stress for many, especially during the rush between the beginning of school and homeroom.
“It was honestly a really big inconvenience,” senior Kamden Johnson said. “You’ll have five minutes to get from one building to another building and up four flights of stairs, but you have to stop because there’s six people in front of you at the metal detector.”
After years of frustration with these long lines, students are finally seeing improvements in the school’s security process. The recent installation of these upgraded metal detectors has made getting to class faster and easier for some students.
“Every pair of pants or belt I wear has metal, so the detector always went off and I’d always have to get searched,” Johnson said. “But with the new ones, it’s actually way more convenient. I just take my Chromebook out, and anything that doesn’t have that specific metal isn’t detected as a threat, so it doesn’t go off. It just makes my day a lot simpler. I love it.”
For those new to the campus, this added procedure shapes their first impressions of the school’s environment and priorities. While the policy aims to enhance safety and has benefited some students, opinions differ on whether it’s a necessary step or an inconvenience.
“Altoona is definitely different,” new student Elexis Keller said. “At my old school in New York, we had no metal detectors, no clear book bags. You just walked into the building with your book bag.”
Keller moved to Altoona from New York in March, and is still trying her best to adjust to these changes. This new routine can be overwhelming with the amount of procedures that our school uses for safety.
“I feel like they’re a little too much, especially because we have clear book bags at the same time,” Keller said. “I understand the precautions and all that. It’s a little uncomfortable, but at the same time, it’s understandable.”
While there has certainly been a differing opinion between students and staff on the new metal detectors and their necessity, administrators say that the transition has gone smoothly thanks to the patience and cooperation of the student body.
“We want to thank the students for being understanding whenever we were first starting the new system because we had been doing things one way for a while, and then when we got the new metal detectors that changed our procedures a little bit,” Neely said. “But they were awesome; very quick to adapt to what we were doing.”
