CANTON, Ohio — A new system designed to keep guns and knives out of Canton schools is now up and running.
The Canton City School District became the first district in Stark County to utilize the walk-through metal detectors. The system became operational last month.
There are six sets of detectors inside Canton McKinley High School. For students, staff and students, passing through them each day before classes has become their new normal.
MyQuella Likpkins, a freshman, said many of her classmates experienced delays and growing pains when the system rolled out.
"Everybody was so confused. Everybody was getting stuff set off and it would take a long time to get from point A to point B," she said.
However, Assistant Principal Jim Pappas, who greets students daily at the front entrance, said it has become a smooth operation for the most part.
He noted that umbrellas were setting off the alarm, so many students have taken them out of their backpacks. Other items have also been known to turn the green light to red and sound an alarm.
"If a kid has multiple spiral notebooks, sometimes that's enough to set it off. Three-ring binders have set if off," Pappas said.
However, most importantly, no guns or knives have been found since the detectors went live.
Without the system, Assistant Superintendent Jason Dixon said a few weapons made it into the high school last school year, but he didn't release specific details.
"We're very fortunate. We feel that the implementation of these has significantly helped us in deterring students bringing weapons into the school," Dixon said.
The district spent about $370,000 for 22 sets of detectors in their buildings from grade 7 to grade 12.
That includes STEAMM Academy at Hartford, Early College at Lehman, Crenshaw Middle School and the Timken Career Campus.
"When we talk about safety and being a priority, we thought this was the next step and it's going well," Dixon said.
Pappas said he's seeing this style of walk-through metal detector more often at businesses. He pointed out that he recently went through one of them at a hospital.
"It's an unfortunate sign of our times these days, but student safety and safety is our foremost concerns so we will not compromise that," Pappas said.
Over the summer, school board member Eric Resnick raised some potential privacy concerns from searches but ultimately voted for the detectors, partly because students told him they wanted them.
MyQuella said the detectors have helped her focus by putting her mind at ease.
"I used to worry about safety in the school because there's gun threats sometimes, but now I feel more comfortable knowing that there's a way lesser chance of somebody coming in with something," she said.
The district does not have weapons detection systems in its 13 elementary schools, but Dixon said adding the detectors in those buildings is under consideration.
