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Trustees ask staff to produce proposal and begin negotiations on metal detectors for district sites
Summary
The board voted 5–0 to add a future agenda item directing staff to prepare a proposal and implementation plan — including starting labor negotiations — to move forward with metal detectors at district campuses; trustees debated wands versus towers, staffing and procurement constraints.
The Perris Union High School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to ask staff to prepare a proposal and implementation plan to acquire and implement metal detectors at district sites and to begin negotiations with labor partners on their use.
Board President Garcia moved to add the item for discussion and requested an implementation plan that would include negotiations with employee groups. Trustees discussed product types presented at prior demonstrations (handheld wands, towers) and debated tradeoffs: speed and throughput, sensitivity adjustments, staffing requirements and recurring personnel costs. Trustee Campos and others raised cost and staffing concerns — one trustee referenced prior estimates of substantial ongoing staff costs for checkpoints — while Garcia pushed for action to show responsiveness to safety threats the district has faced.
Dr. Williams and business staff cautioned that procurement rules, bid thresholds and proper contracting processes must be followed. Staff noted the district’s procurement bid limit is $119,900 and said procurement and business services will need to determine the competitive process and staffing model before purchases proceed.
Outcome and next steps: Trustees approved adding a staff-developed proposal to a future meeting (20.1) and directed security and business services to prepare a vendor-agnostic implementation plan and to start negotiations with unions; no purchase authorization was approved at the May 13 meeting.
