COLUMBIA, S.C. — At Tuesday's Richland County School District Two board meeting, members talked about safety and security across the district and looked at staff recommendations for improving safety.
“Safety is a big issue for all of us,” one board member said during the meeting.
Like many other school districts across the Midlands, Richland Two is working to increase security across all their schools.
Board Vice Chair James Manning said an open-gate metal detector pilot program was conducted at randomly selected schools, involving more than 200 students. According to the district, four employees will be needed to operate each detector.
“That included things such as, possibility of metal detectors, clear bag policies and a few other ideas that we need to consider,” Manning said.
“Open gate metal detectors to give us an idea what would be some challenges in implementing the metal detectors at the high school,” Superintendent Dr. Barron Davis said.
According to the district, each metal detector is set to cost the district $13,000.
“There's a lot of nuances that go into it," Manning said. "Do we need additional staff? If we do, what's the cost? What are the procedures once you identify some sort of issue?”
The district also wants to add door alarms, a crisis alert system, a clear bag policy for all students and more student resource officers.
However, each door alarm will cost $1,000 each.
The crisis alert system will involve ID badges, allowing staff to communicate with administration and security during an emergency. This will cost the district $8,000 per school year.
The district reported each SRO costs them $130,000.
Manning said the district wants new safety measures implemented before the new school year, but couldn't say which measures those will be just yet.
According to the district, the supply chain crisis is impacting what measures are implemented and when. Metal detectors are reportedly taking eight to 12 weeks to arrive.
Manning said different measures will be phased in, but the full board must vote and approve all the safety recommendations before anything is implemented.