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Dr. Van Hucklem says metal-detector screenings will begin at Daniel Morgan campus in January
Summary
Dr. Van Hucklem announced daily metal-detector screenings will start at the Daniel Morgan campus in January, following a pilot at John Hanley High School. He described the student screening process and said the change is a precaution, not a response to an immediate threat.
Dr. Van Hucklem, speaking for the Daniel Morgan community, said the school will begin daily metal-detector screenings at the Daniel Morgan campus in January, following a rollout earlier this school year at John Hanley High School.
He said the measure is a precautionary layer of safety rather than a response to a specific, immediate threat. "This is not in response to any immediate threat or anything like that," Van Hucklem said.
Van Hucklem described how the screenings will work: as students enter the building, whether on buses or in car rider lines, they will remove large items such as Chromebooks and hand them to a nearby adult who will hold the item. The student will walk through the metal detector and then receive the item on the far side. "It's as simple as that," he said.
He noted the district has already used the detectors at John Hanley High School since August and that staff run the detectors every day school is in session there. Van Hucklem said experience from that site informed the plan for Daniel Morgan and that staff expect a brief adjustment period. "Typically, what we've seen is... over the first couple days, we have some learning curves with students and they quickly figure out what's gonna make it through the weapon detector and what's not. Within 2 or 3 days, we'll be rocking and rolling through that process and it won't be a problem at all," he said.
No vote or formal board action was recorded in the transcript; Van Hucklem presented the start month and operational details as the next step. The announcement emphasized logistics for entry flow, a precedent at John Hanley, and an explicit statement that the rollout is not in response to an immediate threat.
Meeting notes: start month (January), prior implementation (John Hanley High School since August), screening procedure (students hand large items to a staff/volunteer, walk through detectors, then retrieve items), and expected two- to three-day adjustment period.
