What would be the process to get metal detectors in MCPS schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

No, they aren't. Stop making up stuff. MCPS needs more security guards, police in the school and the latest equipment to protect our kids and staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are not cost or time efficient. Even the new ones that use sensor technology (so you don't have to remove metal jewelry or belts, they can detect the shape and thickness of metal weapons) take minutes per person to scan. You would also need extra trained staff to monitor the process of each student walking through and be able to respond if a weapon was found.

PG County is doing it. What does PG County know that MoCo doesn't and can't know? Does PG have more resources and expertise than us?

PG County also kept SROs while MoCo got rid of them despite 100% support for the program from school principals.

PG County doesn’t have to contend with the Montgomery County Council, which is primarily directed by a small group of vocal activists.

I'm guessing that the members of the Montgomery County Council, who were elected by the voters, have a better sense of what people in the county want and are concerned about than an anonymous internet rando.

I’m going to disagree with you there. The MoCo council made that decision even though 100% of school principals were against it. They made it based off a 3 student (just 3) panel and a lot of noise from a very small group of activists.

So the people in the schools were ignored.

I don’t think the council actually listens at all to the county.

No, that is not what they based their decision on.

It was a 3-student panel to represent 160,000 students:
https://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/C2S2RR727C3F/$file/SRO%20Program%20210511.pdf

And, of course, they had a couple the public hearings dominated by very vocal activists. And let’s not forget: 100% of principals were against this plan. How arrogant to not listen to people IN the schools.

Meanwhile, PGCPS sent out a survey to all stakeholders: students, parents, and community members. 80% of responses were in favor of SROs.

So, which county listened to its community? Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

No, they aren't. Stop making up stuff. MCPS needs more security guards, police in the school and the latest equipment to protect our kids and staff.

But metal detectors don't "protect our kids and staff". And every dollar spent on metal detectors, which would be a lot of dollars, would be a dollar not spent on something that's actually effective for safety and/or education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

No, they aren't. Stop making up stuff. MCPS needs more security guards, police in the school and the latest equipment to protect our kids and staff.

But metal detectors don't "protect our kids and staff". And every dollar spent on metal detectors, which would be a lot of dollars, would be a dollar not spent on something that's actually effective for safety and/or education.

What are the things that are effective for safety that will provide near-term results? Don't say mental health or wraparound services. Those are long-term things that may or may not pay off in a reduction of incidents over the long haul.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

No, they aren't. Stop making up stuff. MCPS needs more security guards, police in the school and the latest equipment to protect our kids and staff.

But metal detectors don't "protect our kids and staff". And every dollar spent on metal detectors, which would be a lot of dollars, would be a dollar not spent on something that's actually effective for safety and/or education.

What are the things that are effective for safety that will provide near-term results? Don't say mental health or wraparound services. Those are long-term things that may or may not pay off in a reduction of incidents over the long haul.

Back up a bit there. Let's start with the question: Are metal detectors are effective for preventing or deterring violence in schools? The answer is: No, metal detectors are not.

So why would we want to spend $$$$$ on something that doesn't do what we want it to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

No, they aren't. Stop making up stuff. MCPS needs more security guards, police in the school and the latest equipment to protect our kids and staff.

But metal detectors don't "protect our kids and staff". And every dollar spent on metal detectors, which would be a lot of dollars, would be a dollar not spent on something that's actually effective for safety and/or education.

What are the things that are effective for safety that will provide near-term results? Don't say mental health or wraparound services. Those are long-term things that may or may not pay off in a reduction of incidents over the long haul.

Back up a bit there. Let's start with the question: Are metal detectors are effective for preventing or deterring violence in schools? The answer is: No, metal detectors are not.

So why would we want to spend $$$$$ on something that doesn't do what we want it to do?

So you're not going to answer my question. Like I thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

Because they're free and don't take any work to use properly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs it. Too many loose cannon potheads and latchkey kids and delusional parents who have no idea what their kids are up to while they are at work

Latchkey kids? seriously that was the best you could do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People don’t want them, particularly if they are not part of a comprehensive security plan that doesn’t paint all kids as potential criminals. Why? Because metal deter and clear backpacks are not a new novel idea. Plenty of places have already tried this and still have incidents happen.

There aren’t metal detectors on every door entrance at colleges/universities? Neither do they exist at all private schools?

Most of the problems seen in schools start outside of school. Mental health, food insecurity, politics as a sport instead of governing, gangs, etc etc. If we dealt with societal issues instead of hiding and kicking the can down the road then what goes on in schools would be education.

I don't disagree with the larger point here that installing metal detectors only addresses the symptoms ( = carrying weapons), not the larger social problems. I also don't disagree that metal detectors are likely no deterrent and can't catch everything. But every single thing they catch is one less dangerous item in the hands of a not-fully-grown person. I _want_ there to be that one less dangerous item circulating in a school. And I'm willing to pay higher taxes to help make that happen, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People don’t want them, particularly if they are not part of a comprehensive security plan that doesn’t paint all kids as potential criminals. Why? Because metal deter and clear backpacks are not a new novel idea. Plenty of places have already tried this and still have incidents happen.

There aren’t metal detectors on every door entrance at colleges/universities? Neither do they exist at all private schools?

Most of the problems seen in schools start outside of school. Mental health, food insecurity, politics as a sport instead of governing, gangs, etc etc. If we dealt with societal issues instead of hiding and kicking the can down the road then what goes on in schools would be education.

I don't disagree with the larger point here that installing metal detectors only addresses the symptoms ( = carrying weapons), not the larger social problems. I also don't disagree that metal detectors are likely no deterrent and can't catch everything. But every single thing they catch is one less dangerous item in the hands of a not-fully-grown person. I _want_ there to be that one less dangerous item circulating in a school. And I'm willing to pay higher taxes to help make that happen, too.

Every single dollar, and it would be _a lot_ of dollars, they spend on metal detectors, which are not effective at preventing or deterring school violence, is a dollar they can't spend on education. I _want_ there to be that money spent to educate kids, not to enrich the school "security" industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs it. Too many loose cannon potheads and latchkey kids and delusional parents who have no idea what their kids are up to while they are at work

Watch out, cannon potheads on the loose!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Metal detectors are better than nothing. I suspect those opposed don't have kids in MCPS. Our HS has been evacuated for multiple threats several times this year. This gives a sense of fear and kids question their safety. Why do we need to wait for an incident to get tighter with security? We've already had multiple incidents that put our kids and the staff at risk. When is enough enough?

No, metal detectors are worse than nothing.

No, they aren't. Stop making up stuff. MCPS needs more security guards, police in the school and the latest equipment to protect our kids and staff.

But metal detectors don't "protect our kids and staff". And every dollar spent on metal detectors, which would be a lot of dollars, would be a dollar not spent on something that's actually effective for safety and/or education.

What are the things that are effective for safety that will provide near-term results? Don't say mental health or wraparound services. Those are long-term things that may or may not pay off in a reduction of incidents over the long haul.

I noticed how few incidents like this occurred during remote learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People don’t want them, particularly if they are not part of a comprehensive security plan that doesn’t paint all kids as potential criminals. Why? Because metal deter and clear backpacks are not a new novel idea. Plenty of places have already tried this and still have incidents happen.

There aren’t metal detectors on every door entrance at colleges/universities? Neither do they exist at all private schools?

Most of the problems seen in schools start outside of school. Mental health, food insecurity, politics as a sport instead of governing, gangs, etc etc. If we dealt with societal issues instead of hiding and kicking the can down the road then what goes on in schools would be education.

I don't disagree with the larger point here that installing metal detectors only addresses the symptoms ( = carrying weapons), not the larger social problems. I also don't disagree that metal detectors are likely no deterrent and can't catch everything. But every single thing they catch is one less dangerous item in the hands of a not-fully-grown person. I _want_ there to be that one less dangerous item circulating in a school. And I'm willing to pay higher taxes to help make that happen, too.

Every single dollar, and it would be _a lot_ of dollars, they spend on metal detectors, which are not effective at preventing or deterring school violence, is a dollar they can't spend on education. I _want_ there to be that money spent to educate kids, not to enrich the school "security" industry.

There is so much wasted spending, they can find the money. Kids need to feel safe to learn. Having multiple bomb and other threats in just two months makes kids scared to go to school. Mine worry. At this point I told them to get off campus as far as they can next threat and I’ll get them. Not worth the risk of it being real.

[Anonymous]

They're not putting metal detectors in.

They can't put them at every door, 2,000 or in some cases 3,000 kids cant enter through one set of doors, and kids hold doors open for their friends, prop doors open on hot days or cold days or just because.

Metal detectors are not effective, and would waste school $$ when those $$ could be better spent on teachers, mental health specialists and more