ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County high school students will not need to pass through metal detectors every morning, but the schools themselves and events related to them will still be subject to random searches, according to a district spokesperson.
Orange County Public Schools in 2023 began a pilot program to decide whether to deploy OPENGATE weapon-detection systems at district high schools, opting to conduct the trial at Wekiva, Boone, Horizon, Lake Nona, Evans, Timber Creek and Jones high schools.
By the end of the pilot, which was completed in the last school year, it was determined the program would not be implemented district-wide “due to the overall cost and the required number of staff to run the system on a daily basis,” the spokesperson said in a statement. However, existing OPENGATE units have since been distributed to the high schools in anticipation that they, along with handheld metal detectors, will continue to be used as part of the district’s random security screenings, as well as during major events. OCPS has allowed the use of metal detection wands at middle and high schools since 2018.
Screening policies such as that of Orange County’s public school district — as well as those recently put in place for students in Osceola and Volusia counties — appear vastly different than what’s been going on in South Florida.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
According to News 6 partner Local 10 News, Broward County Public Schools’ safety and security chief, Jaime Alberti, submitted his resignation letter after a tumultuous first two days of the 2024-25 school year.
At some high schools in Broward, students could reportedly be seen waiting in lengthy lines to walk through metal detectors which, according to Broward County School Board member Torey Alston, had as of Sunday only discovered some marijuana in a metal container on a student’s person. Otherwise, the weapons-detections systems allegedly spent much time giving false alarms — such as to the metal inside of three-ring binders — what Alston said necessitated “recalibration” to increase efficiency.
“There was a miscommunication between district staff and the contractors,” Alston said of the delays without identifying the contractors or the staff involved, Local 10 News reported.
For Orange County, the spokesperson said the metal detectors will be deployed as necessary, adding they could share no further specifics regarding safety and security measures.
A spokesperson for Osceola County Public Schools has otherwise said that their random searches had not yet begun but would start taking place later in the first nine weeks of classes.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: