All Wilson County high schools will soon have weapon detection systems
WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — All Wilson County high schools will soon have an extra layer of protection.
On Monday, Feb. 5, the Wilson County director of schools announced that weapon detection systems will be in operation at all five of the district’s high schools.
“Safety, it is a huge priority for us,” said Bart Barker, Wilson County Schools’ public information officer.
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In Wilson County, the district was one of the first in the state to hire a school resource officer (SRO) for every school. Now, Wilson County Schools want to take safety one step further.
“These devices, these detection machines are in a lot of places. They’re already in a lot of schools, neighboring counties,” Barker said.
Last year, Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools took part in a pilot program with weapon detectors. Starting this week, Wilson Central High School will test a similar system out through Motorola Solutions.
“These systems are going in not to be reactive, but being proactive,” Barker said.
Barker said all students and visitors will be required to walk through the detection at the entrance of the schools: “You don’t want to find anything at all, but they’re there for a purpose, and students are going to see them. They’re going to see them and go through them and know that’s part of their school day.”
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On top of that, he said they can be easily moved across the district: “They can easily be pivoted from main entrance areas at schools to, say, the football gates at stadiums or outside our gymnasiums for a larger event.”
Barker said the goal is for all five high schools to have the equipment by the end of this school year or the beginning of the next school year.
The funds for the system were designated in Fund Balance at the end of last year for school safety expenditures.
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