An hour before a community forum Thursday afternoon at South Mountain Middle School, about a hundred Allentown School District parents shuffled through a weapons detection system.
The two silver cylindrical poles set up at the front entrance gave community members a glimpse at what the district’s middle schools might look like soon.
During the 2022-23 school year, Allentown School District reported 524 weapon incidents. The number of weapons found in the district decreased by 89% last year, officials say, but the district wants to do more.
Arcelius Brickhouse, the district’s executive director of instructional leadership, on Thursday gave a comprehensive overview of plans to expand its safety approach, with an emphasis on providing measures beyond just physical safety, including mental health and substance abuse services.
The school district has weapon detection systems at all three of its high schools, but it continues to receive reports and concerns from its Safe2Say system, an anonymous statewide reporting system that can be used by students and community members.
In light of those reports, as well as continued school shootings across the United States, the district said adding weapon detection systems at the middle school level would further meet the needs of the community.
The system is not a metal detector or X-ray, but rather a density detection system meant to spot knives, guns and other weapons that could cause mass casualties.
Afterward, school officials said the number of detectors, and the cost of installing them, hadn’t been finalized yet.
The detection systems would be used at the entrances to the middle schools and athletic events, and everyone including administrators, teachers, students and outside vendors would have to go through them each day. The district also said it would increase safety staff at the middle schools to help facilitate the flow of students through the detectors in the mornings.
Safety officers at the schools would also have search wands that they could use for individuals in wheelchairs or using crutches.
While the forum did not specify a timeline for the expansion, district Superintendent Carol Birks said she planned to bring the proposals up at the School Board meeting later Thursday.
“We want you to feel that we care about you, that we love you, and we do take the safety and security of our organization seriously,” Birks said.
Punya Bhasin is a freelance writer.
