Keizer middle schoolers will have to walk through weapon detectors starting later this year.
The detectors are a part of the Salem-Keizer School District’s update of middle school safety protocols.
“We’ve seen a decline in age in charges where it’s possession of a weapon, which is really a driving factor for us. We don’t want weapons in our schools,” said Chris Baldridge, the district’s director of safety and risk management services.
The district will install detectors at 12 middle schools, including Whiteaker Middle School and Claggett Creek Middle School.
Whiteaker has 657 students and Claggett Creek 813. They will get detectors between October and April. Officials declined to be more specific.
They also didn’t mention a specific instance that prompted the safety overhaul. The district has already started the process and is currently tinting the schools’ windows. Then, schools will start restricting kids and adults from leaving and entering the building.
The procedures will reflect those at McNary High School, put in place last year. There, officials can toggle alarms that sound when certain doors are open.
Chris Baldridge said that the alarm notifies students not to use certain doors except in emergencies. In the event that an alarm sounds, teachers are expected to inspect the area of the alarm.
“We have some electronic processes that show us where the door was and how it was breached,” Baldridge said. “Then we have the ability to follow up with that student and ascertain as to why they opened that door.”
Visiting adults must go through the weapon detectors during class hours. Some schools will also have conveyor belt backpack detectors.
“When you’re coming in with us and you’re coming in with our most cherished asset, being our students and our staff, we are going to screen you,” Baldridge said.
Danielle Neves, the district’s deputy superintendent, said she personally feels safe knowing that her middle school-aged son will have another layer of protection.
“I am a parent who feels good…knowing that the school district is taking care of my students, of the teachers in the building, so that they can focus on learning,” she said.
Neves said her son was receptive to the new safety initiatives and was glad to have another measure of safety. Her son’s main concern was getting to class on time.
The district will use settlement money from a lawsuit against vaping to pay for the detectors, which will cost approximately $1.2 million for the district’s 14 middle schools.
Salem-Keizer was the first school district in Oregon to place detection systems in all of its high schools last year.
Evolv, a California company, will provide the detectors – the same ones as McNary.
“They efficiently scan people and bags, providing alert images to help pinpoint potential threat locations,” the company’s website reads.
According to the latest federal data in 2020, 3% of public middle schools reported daily weapon detector checks.
“When we talk about the messages to families,” Neves said, “I would say our first job is to keep your children safe and to give them a space where they can learn with the adults and students who they are in school with.”
News tip? Contact reporter Riley Ellis: [email protected]
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