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Barrow County community presses board on weapons-detection, clear-bag and pod security after September shooting
Summary
Residents, students and teachers told the Barrow County Board of Education that recently installed metal detectors and AI weapons-detection devices are not being used consistently and urged clear-bag rules, more resource officers and stronger access control for 'pod' classroom spaces.
Residents, students and staff pressed the Barrow County Board of Education on Feb. 4 to tighten school security after a September shooting and a separate January incident in which a weapon was found on a campus.
The session focused on how metal detectors and new AI weapons-detection units are being used in practice and whether additional steps — including a clear-bag policy, more school resource officers and tighter access control at “pod” classrooms — are needed to make students and staff feel safe.
Why it matters: speakers said the district’s purchased security devices matter only if they are implemented consistently. Many described daily scenes in which detectors sit unused at the side of a hallway, classroom doors remain propped open and students are admitted without passing through screening — conditions they say leave students vulnerable.
Dr. Bowen, speaking for support services, told the board the system approved Jan. 9 to buy metal detectors for middle and high schools is being rolled out in phases. “The middle schools will be receiving their devices in the next week, followed by a day of training on Monday, February 17, and scanning will begin on February 18,” Dr. Bowen said. He said the board previously approved funding sufficient for both high schools and middle schools and that staff will update the board on implementation on Feb. 25.
Speakers at the public-comment portion described a different picture on the ground. “None of you can bring my brother back, but you can help prevent this from happening again,” said Mr. Angulo Junior, who identified himself as a family member of a student killed in the September incident. He urged the board to “fulfill safety protocols and classroom policies like our AI weapon detection system for all schools in Barrow County.”
A number of other parents and students described gaps they said undermine the devices’ effectiveness: detectors or AI units placed off to the side and not permanently mounted, classroom doors left open, and teachers who they said are not consistently requiring students to pass through scanners. “If you ask the principals at these schools, that is not what they’re telling,” a parent said, describing a mismatch between board statements and school practice.
Students also reported spotty campus wireless service and limited ways to communicate during emergencies. ‘‘The lack of communication that day was unacceptable,’’ said Isabella Bray, a 10th-grade student at Apalachee High School. She said she learned about the September incident through friends and media before the county’s official message reached families.
Several speakers urged the board to adopt a clear-bag policy and to increase the number of school resource officers and hall monitors. Tara Shipman, speaking as a parent of Apalachee students, cited a safety survey she said showed strong staff support for clear bags and said the measure would be “an essential layer of protection.” Marion Webb, a freshman at Winder-Barrow High School, also asked for more monitored access points, additional hall monitors and clearer enforcement of visitor and bag rules.
Board procedure and next steps: the board’s public-comment policy and three-minute time limit were read aloud before commenters spoke; the board noted it would take input under consideration but generally not act during that meeting. Superintendent-level and support-services staff were asked to collect videos and photographs that commenters said document gaps (for example, detectors not in use or doors propped open) and to share them with the superintendent’s office for review.
The board’s staff and several parents described safety work as “layers” of protection — detectors, bag rules, additional officers, and behavioral/mental-health support — and urged the board to clarify which layers will be in place and on what timeline.
Ending: speakers left the meeting asking for concrete, near-term steps: mounted detectors or permanently positioned AI units; a clear-bag policy; more visible, consistent monitoring of building entry points; and better communication from the district when incidents occur. Support-services staff scheduled a follow-up update for Feb. 25 on middle-school implementation of the scanning program.
