Local students are speaking out about metal detectors in Duval County public high schools.
Action News Jax first told you on Monday that, at a safety meeting, school district Police Chief Michael Edwards recommended installing the devices.
“We see school as an escape from the outside world,” said Raines High School sophomore Winston Seabrooks. “To put metal detectors in every high school in Duval County elicits a prison mentality."
Raines High was the site of a triple shooting that happened after and football game in August and left one person dead.
MORE: All Duval County high schools will soon have metal detectors
Edwards told Action News Jax he and Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene spent the first few weeks of school doing walk throughs to determine if improvements are needed but Seabrooks believes the metal detectors hit too close to home.
“You look at our area -- we have some family members that are incarcerated,” said Seabrooks.
The school district has applied for a grant to pay for the metal detectors.
But school board member Scott Shine tells Action News Jax that spending the grant on metal detectors is a capital expense, so it would have to approved by the school board, especially since it could cost more than $1 million.
STORY: Metal detector plan in Duval could be most aggressive in Florida
The school district told Action News Jax there will be a board workshop in November to discuss the issue.
Seabrooks thinks students should have a seat at the table with the superintendent to make these decisions.
“She needs to listen to all of us and ask us what we think is better than metal detectors,” said Seabrooks. “ It’s not the best idea.”
Cox Media Group
