Metal detectors coming to Stoneman Douglas High.

Stoneman Douglas High School alters security initiatives

Clear backpacks are out and metal detectors are in this fall at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.

The Broward County School District has put the Parkland school, which was the site of the Feb. 14 massacre, at the forefront for new security initiatives, including what turned out to be a widely panned requirement that students use only clear backpacks.

The district is ending that requirement, so students are free to bring whichever backpack they want to school. But starting this fall, Stoneman Douglas will become the first school in Broward to require students to go through metal detectors.

Metal detectors have been used for decades at schools in highcrime neighborhoods in cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. But many school districts, including ones in South Florida, have long resisted them, saying it’s more important to focus on mental health and warning signs than metal detectors.

A number of school districts across the country have installed or considered them since the Feb. 14 attacks.

Miami-Dade County has “a districtwide random weapons search program that is conducted with metal detector wands and is exploring the feasibility of expanding the program based on school size and student population,” district spokeswoman Jaquelyn Calzadilla said. She said they’re also exploring the possibility of stationary metal detectors.

Palm Beach County schools have not used them. A spokesperson could not be reached Monday.

Broward officials initially announced plans for these in early June, and a safety task force organized by the League of Cities recommended considering this for all schools.

Since the tragedy, it has received a number of offers to donate metal detectors. The district is reviewing these offers “to determine if they will meet the district’s needs and requirements prior to purchasing any devices,” district spokeswoman Nadine Drew said.

District officials haven’t provided specifics on how these metal detectors would work, including whether students will walk through them or be scanned with portable wands.

It’s also unclear if and when they would be coming to other schools.

“The District will pilot use of the metal detectors to better understand benefits and limitations when implemented,” Drew said.

One concern has been how to get 3,200 students through the metal detectors in the morning without having long lines snake out the door.

“The district will work to establish an appropriate number of entrance points and a protocol for screening that serves to minimize significant lines, while maintaining effective use of metal detectors,” Drew said.

She said the district is still working on those plans.

The League of Cities Task force wrote in a June report that it “strongly recommends” that the district consider metal detectors countywide but also said there may be some challenges to ensure they’re being used consistently and fairly.