All high school students in the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Area School District must now enter their school buildings through metal detectors.
The Wilkes-Barre Citizen's Voice reports that the metal detectors were already at the schools, but officials were using them only randomly when students entered, Superintendent Brian Costello says. The new policy went into effect last week after a security review in response to 17 shooting deaths last month at a Parkland, Fla., high school.
On Monday, a metal detector alerted security personnel that a student at one of the three high schools had a weapon, Costello says.
“I believe it was a knife,” he says.
Several students have complained about the new security measures. They say they have missed time in class because of delays from long lines waiting to go through metal detectors.
Costello said the long lines were only a problem at one school, and fewer students were delayed while entering Monday. Officials will make adjustments if the problem does not get better, Costello said.
Speakers at Monday's also complained about a district policy that prohibits students from using backpacks to carry books.
