BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. — It's the first day back to school for Richland School District Two students. As students return to the classroom, security is at top-of-mind for parents. This year, new protective measures are in place.
"I think we need them for school safety," senior Lauren Adams said.
Adams said she likes coming to school knowing everyone must walk through metal detectors to enter the building.
"I do feel safer," senior Josie Smyth said.
"Me too," Adams added.
"We had a few issues last year with, like, the whole bomb threat issues," Smyth said. "This does make me feel a lot safer."
"Kids want to be safe. Parents want their kids to be safe," Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. "They know that is what this is all about."
Lott said that's why these detectors operate all day without causing a significant disruption to students.
"You can see this running very smoothly. It's not like an airport where everybody's backed up," Lott said. "They got enough staff here. So [students are] here on time. They get to class on time."
This allows kids to focus on what matters, said Dr. Kim Moore, the district's new superintendent.
"When we feel safe, when we feel that we belong then we're ready to learn and so that's why this is so important," Moore said.
The district's chief communications officer, Greg Turchetta, said these detectors could help find weapons and act as a deterrent.
"At the end of the day, if a student came to the school with a weapon and they know there's a metal detector there, they may keep the weapon, they may throw it in a bush, they may throw it in a garbage can," Turchetta said. "It's not coming in the school, and that's the goal."
A secondary goal is helping with teacher retention, Turchetta said.
"Look at state and national numbers. Teachers are leaving our profession at a record rate," Turchetta said. "There's a lot of reasons why. A lot of it is respect; some of it's a safety component, right? So, whatever we can do to make people inside our schools feel more safe has to help retain quality people."
That includes people like science teacher Justin Simpson.
"It definitely brings a peace of mind and brings an extra layer of comfort. You know, being an educator, our first priority is the safety of our students," Simpson said. "And these are measures that we're going to take to ensure their safety, and they come to us safe, and they return to their families safe as well."
These detectors are permanent after being tested in a pilot program last school year. Because students are used to it, Simpson said the process "actually went very smoothly."
"Our students are excellent. They know what to expect when they come in. They know what's expected of them," Simpson added. "And everything went very smoothly, and we're appreciative of all the help and assistance we had this morning in keeping our kids safe."
"I don't feel like it's like it's a big surprise to our students. They went through it last year with the pop-up stations," Moore said. "And so, as you can see, things are running smoothly."
Now that the detectors are officially installed, Lott said they're here to stay.
Sheriff Lott called the detectors a long-term solution.
"I mean, you go to ball games now; what do you go through? You go to concerts now; what do you go through?" he said. "It's just another way of life for us now. So we're doing it in the schools, and it's a good thing."
Some critics of metal detectors have voiced that adding them to schools can feel hostile. However, Lott compares the environment to an airport when adding these permanent devices in schools.
"Don't you feel safe when you go to the airport?" Lott said. "It doesn't feel like a prison when you get to the airport, you feel safe because you know that you're protected when you get on that plane. It's the same thing. This is nothing like a prison. This is a school, and it's our responsibility to make sure these schools are safe."
Richland Two has also implemented crisis alert badges. Each faculty member has a badge with a button to press to send the entire school into lockdown or request the administration's assistance in emergencies.
"I mean, it's empowering, right?" Turchetta said. "You have the ability in a horrible situation to do something and do something fast. That's empowering."
All faculty and staff have their badge, which they can use in an emergency. Three presses of the button alert the school administration that a problem needs to be addressed. Eight pushes send the school into lockdown mode, alerting law enforcement, locking the doors, sending display messages to school computers and other safety procedures.
"We're always assessing our safety protocols to ensure that we're creating that safe and caring learning environment," Moore said. "So, we will continue to do that throughout the year. It's a never-ending process."
Lott said that metal detectors are helpful when discovering security issues; however, the most significant help is from students themselves.
"When we find a gun or drugs because the kids are the ones who told us about it. It's not because we're some super detectives. It's because the kids police the school. They don't want them in the school. So, they build relationships with our school resource officer, with the staff. So, when someone brings something up, they tell them it's how we keep our schools safe. So our schools are safe," Lott said. "It's a relationship we've developed over a long time. We've had school resources officers now for 27 years. We just didn't start. So, we've had them in place. We build these relationships. These young people are exposed to an SRO from kindergarten all the way 'til they graduate. They understand who they are and why they're here, and that they're here for the kids. That relationship keeps the school safe."
The new detectors cost the district about $3 million, which Turchetta said was taken from the security budget. About $500,000 was used to purchase the 36 devices, while the other $2.5 million is being used to pay nearly 100 people to work the security checkpoints.