Duval County Public Schools' metal detector plan could be most aggressive in Florida

Duval County is the only local school district planning to install walk-through metal detectors at all high schools.

Since a handful of parents first found out about the security changes Monday night during a safety forum at Raines High School, Action News Jax has been checking in with school districts in our area and around the state.

Duval County Public Schools’ plan to install walk-through metal detectors in all high schools is a departure from all the other school districts Action News Jax checked with.

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Spokespeople for St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Putnam and Baker Counties said they don't have walk-through metal detectors and currently have no plans to install them.

St. Johns County only has walk-through metal detectors at its alternative school. Clay County uses handheld metal detecting wands.

In Orange County, which covers part of the Orlando area, the district does random metal detection screenings, which include walk-through metal detectors. The random screenings can happen any day at any time at middle and high schools, according to a district spokesperson.

But only Orange County’s alternative school has installed walk-through metal detectors for daily use.

“I absolutely think that they send the wrong message to our children,” said Tiffany Clark, a mother of two Duval County high school students. “Are we telling them that our schools aren’t safe?”

Clark also said she thinks DCPS should have consulted parents before making a decision.

“What is the plan? Will this work? Because we all know evil will find a way,” Clark said.

When Carledra Harmoe was a student at Raines High School, the need for metal detectors never crossed her mind.

Now that she has twin 11^th-graders there, she said she believes they're necessary.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Harmoe said. “At the end of the day, I’d rather have that done instead of, you know, an incident where we’re being called to try to pick up our kids or come identify our kids’ bodies.”

DCPS has changed its tune on this issue since the new superintendent took over.

Former Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti was opposed to metal detectors.

“Having worked in the Bronx in New York City, where we had metal detectors, oftentimes weapons still got in the school building. And it creates a prison mentality in our schools that I don’t want to see happen in Jacksonville,” Vitti told Action News Jax in 2015.

When Action News Jax interviewed new superintendent Dr. Diana Greene on her first day, she said she would be open to walk-through metal detectors, but had questions.

“If you choose a standing metal detector, it depends on how many will we be able to afford at each school site? Is it going to be one point of entry? Those are issues that we need to vet out before we make a decision,” said Greene on July 2.

A St. Johns County School District spokesperson told Action News Jax there is a single point of entry at its alternative school, which is the only school in the district to have walk-through metal detectors.

On Tuesday, DCPS spokesperson Laureen Ricks said the district is seeking a grant from the state to fund the new security equipment.

Ricks said metal detectors will be discussed further at a board workshop next month.

Ricks turned down Action News Jax's request for an an interview with the Superintendent Greene on Tuesday.

Ricks would not answer Action News Jax’s questions about who made the decision to install metal detectors in all high schools, the timeline for installation, how the district will decide which schools get metal detectors first, or whether all high schools will have only one point of entry in the future.

Cox Media Group