Hempfield Area moves forward with weapons detector trial at high school

After several months of deliberation on potential security upgrades, Hempfield Area School District will test out a new weapons detector system at the high school on Feb. 21.

The OPENGATE weapons detectors, a product of Ohio-based CEIA USA, are walk-through weapons detectors that don’t require students to take off their backpacks, according to a letter sent to families by Matt Conner, assistant superintendent for secondary education.

Students will be asked to remove their laptops from their bag to walk through the detectors.

The letter also specified that students should bring plastic water bottles to school instead of metal ones in order to avoid setting off the detector.

“Our goal through this trial is to identify safety equipment that will be incorporated into our district’s future safety plan,” Conner said in the letter.”We appreciate your patience as we work through our process.”

Visitors to the school will also be searched with the detectors. The letter advises visitors to avoid bringing unnecessary bags or purses into the school to avoid a secondary search.

The safety upgrade search process at Hempfield Area kicked off in October of last year after several security incidents.

Three high school students were caught exchanging two loaded handguns on a bus and in a school bathroom, and a Wendover Middle School student was accused of posting threats on social media to bring in a bomb and “shoot up” the school.

Since then, a security and safety committee has discussed options and visited other districts to get a sense of how they handle security.