Metal Detectors at McLean High Only Active Before School Starts

[Anonymous]

Why are the metal detectors at McLean High School only being used in the morning before the first bell?

DD heard from other students that the mags weren’t being used when her friends arrived after the first bell. She confirmed their experience when she arrived late to school on Friday. She walked in to the school and signed in without having to go through mags.

Are there plans to have them active throughout the school day? If not, why?

Lastly, if there are no plans to have the mags active after the first bell, when is McLean/FCPS going to clarify that information? As of now, anyone who wants to bring something not allowed through the mags, just needs to coming after the morning rush.

[Anonymous]

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone.

My kid has two classes outside, and would never make it to her next classes if she had to go through them again. Not to mention all the kids opening the side doors for the kids going in and out...

And yes, it's a huge, dumb waste of time and resources

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are the metal detectors at McLean High School only being used in the morning before the first bell?

DD heard from other students that the mags weren’t being used when her friends arrived after the first bell. She confirmed their experience when she arrived late to school on Friday. She walked in to the school and signed in without having to go through mags.

Are there plans to have them active throughout the school day? If not, why?

Lastly, if there are no plans to have the mags active after the first bell, when is McLean/FCPS going to clarify that information? As of now, anyone who wants to bring something not allowed through the mags, just needs to coming after the morning rush.

It's just to say look FCPS tried~ in case something bad happens. Talk to any LEO and they will tell you it has to be consistent day and night or it's just safety theater. It's like this across the county. This is why parents are upset~ kids shouldn't be late to class for theater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are the metal detectors at McLean High School only being used in the morning before the first bell?

DD heard from other students that the mags weren’t being used when her friends arrived after the first bell. She confirmed their experience when she arrived late to school on Friday. She walked in to the school and signed in without having to go through mags.

Are there plans to have them active throughout the school day? If not, why?

Lastly, if there are no plans to have the mags active after the first bell, when is McLean/FCPS going to clarify that information? As of now, anyone who wants to bring something not allowed through the mags, just needs to coming after the morning rush.

It's just to say look FCPS tried~ in case something bad happens. Talk to any LEO and they will tell you it has to be consistent day and night or it's just safety theater. It's like this across the county. This is why parents are upset~ kids shouldn't be late to class for theater.

The kids do not feel safer. If anything they feel more vulnerable having to stand in long lines, especially outside the larger schools like Robinson and Lake Braddock - plenty of Tik Tok videos from kids at those schools lampooning the safety protocols.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are the metal detectors at McLean High School only being used in the morning before the first bell?

DD heard from other students that the mags weren’t being used when her friends arrived after the first bell. She confirmed their experience when she arrived late to school on Friday. She walked in to the school and signed in without having to go through mags.

Are there plans to have them active throughout the school day? If not, why?

Lastly, if there are no plans to have the mags active after the first bell, when is McLean/FCPS going to clarify that information? As of now, anyone who wants to bring something not allowed through the mags, just needs to coming after the morning rush.

It's just to say look FCPS tried~ in case something bad happens. Talk to any LEO and they will tell you it has to be consistent day and night or it's just safety theater. It's like this across the county. This is why parents are upset~ kids shouldn't be late to class for theater.

Taxpayers are upset because the school is wasting so much money on this.

[Anonymous]

Don't mistake marketing for actual substance.

[Anonymous]

Same at Chantilly.

[Anonymous]

Gatehouse knew this exact issue would happen, because it already happened at the pilot schools last year.

It was identified early as a major flaw, was raised repeatedly in feedback from administrators and staff, and was openly discussed. The concern was that once the morning rush was over, the mags were turned off—creating an obvious gap that undermined the whole purpose of the system.

Rather than addressing the problem, Gatehouse dismissed the concerns. They ignored the experience of the schools that lived through the pilot and instead pushed a county-wide rollout with the same flaw baked in. The end result is that the system creates the appearance of security at the start of the day, but does not actually provide continuous protection.

If there are no plans to keep the mags active throughout the school day, FCPS needs to be transparent about that decision. Parents, students, and staff deserve honesty about what these devices actually do—and what they don’t. Otherwise, it leaves the impression that the county is more concerned with optics than with real safety.

[Anonymous]

It's because schools have always been designed and built with the assumption that guns wouldn't be such a problem.

Buildings would need to be completely re-imagined to avoid security checkpoint bottlenecks for enhanced metal detecting to be implemented 24/7. Not to mention portable use would have to be entirely done away with.

Sigh. We need a crackdown on guns so badly in this country. And then we wouldn't need to worry as much about crazies shooting up schools.

[Anonymous]

Do all HS have the security person that sits in front hall and marks people in and out on computer during day? Wouldn’t it have been easier to have hired 1 police person to sit with them for each HS than the 20-minutes a morning weapons check machines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's because schools have always been designed and built with the assumption that guns wouldn't be such a problem.

Buildings would need to be completely re-imagined to avoid security checkpoint bottlenecks for enhanced metal detecting to be implemented 24/7. Not to mention portable use would have to be entirely done away with.

Sigh. We need a crackdown on guns so badly in this country. And then we wouldn't need to worry as much about crazies shooting up schools.

Guns in school aren't a problem. And if they were, this isn't the solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's because schools have always been designed and built with the assumption that guns wouldn't be such a problem.

Buildings would need to be completely re-imagined to avoid security checkpoint bottlenecks for enhanced metal detecting to be implemented 24/7. Not to mention portable use would have to be entirely done away with.

Sigh. We need a crackdown on guns so badly in this country. And then we wouldn't need to worry as much about crazies shooting up schools.

Guns in school aren't a problem. And if they were, this isn't the solution.

https://k12ssdb.org/all-shootings

[Anonymous]

Because it is all about the theatrical show. It makes people feel better by doing the check as students enter for the day.

Besides when has any school shooter ever left the building to get a gun and come back to cause harm?

Everything in FCPS is about feelings and equity. Never about logic or common sense.

[Anonymous]

Think of fire drills. If you have worked at a large HS, students go out of lots of doors and then back in them. Unlike elementary school, they aren’t staying with their class and walking in line. They aren’t on for those either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's because schools have always been designed and built with the assumption that guns wouldn't be such a problem.

Buildings would need to be completely re-imagined to avoid security checkpoint bottlenecks for enhanced metal detecting to be implemented 24/7. Not to mention portable use would have to be entirely done away with.

Sigh. We need a crackdown on guns so badly in this country. And then we wouldn't need to worry as much about crazies shooting up schools.

Guns in school aren't a problem. And if they were, this isn't the solution.

https://k12ssdb.org/all-shootings

Hey, thanks for proving my point! The vast majority of shootings are not IN the school, they are outside the school. The detectors do nothing to stop shootings outside the school and create even bigger targets for shootings.