Several parents and community advocates are questioning whether a $3 million investment placing metal detectors in Cumberland County schools last year is worth it.
At an Oct. 4 Board of Education meeting, several speakers addressed the board during public comment to speak about school safety.
Retired teacher Cynthia Lee, who taught second grade last year in Cumberland County, said the district wasted millions by installing the metal detectors in schools without having security guards manning them.
Metal detectors were purchased by Cumberland County Schools in 2024. Residents are now questioning if it was worth spending $3 million on them.
Metal detectors background
In May, the Cumberland County Board of Education voted for the district to have metal detectors — a first for the district — in each school for a total cost of about $3.22 million.
The purchase was for 168 OPENGATE walk through systems in the district. Metal-detecting hand wands were also purchased.
District officials said in August 2024 that school administrators, faculty and staff would oversee the detectors, officials said.
During an August 2024 media demonstration of the detectors, Lee Sumners, prevention and security management facilitator for Cumberland County Schools, said that if an illegal item is found, law enforcement will be notified immediately; and if regular contraband or school-prohibited items are found, school administrators will secure the item and handle the matter.
Safety concerns
Residents speaking at this month’s board meeting still weren’t sold on the efficiency of the detectors.
Lee quoted a September article in The Fayetteville Observer that covered Fayetteville Police Chief Roberto Bryan’s quarterly crime report to the City Council and stated that the department had 1,844 calls for service to Cumberland County Schools and 424 incident reports last school year.
“And this school year started with violence rising in our schools,” Lee said. “In fact, just a few weeks ago the news headlines blasted Gray’s Creek High School on high alert after a potential threat of mass violence on the campus.”
A Sept. 23 news release from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office stated authorities were made aware that “a potential threat of mass violence” directed toward Gray’s Creek High School was shared on social media.
While officials have not announced whether the threat was found to be credible, there was increased law enforcement presence at the school.
Sheriff Jonathan Morgan thanked residents who notified the Sheriff’s Office about the threat.
“Your actions demonstrate the strong sense of community we share and show just how much we care about each other’s safety,” Morgan said in the release.
Lee wasn’t the only community member who spoke about the metal detectors and Gray’s Creek threat.
Cumberland County resident Jessica Small also said the $3 million was wasted.
“Before spending a large sum of money, we should have known that security guards were needed at the entry because school staff are not equipped to apprehend students or others who have a weapon,” Small said.
She recommended that a security guard is at the entrance of the school to respond if the metal detector goes off.
She said the district should additionally consider creating a taskforce that brainstorms ideas on how to train, equip and qualify civilians who can fill the guard role.
“I don’t know if (police) are the ones that are potentially being recommended for this role, but could we train people, preferably with a background in security, and hire them to be at our schools, too?” Small said.
Agreement for off-duty officers to carry guns on school property
Later during the Oct. 14 meeting, the board unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding that authorizes off-duty law enforcement officers to carry guns while on school property.
Kevin Coleman, associate superintendent of auxiliary services, told the Auxiliary Services Committee on Oct. 7 that the memorandum is consistent with state law.
“This understanding is to strengthen safety across our campuses,” he said.
He said sworn officers in good standing who meet all firearm qualifications are permitted to bring guns on campuses, must carry identification and keep the weapon “sealed and secured” and use them “only if necessary to protect life.”
School resource officers and security guards
Resident Taylor Rossman questioned why the district would spend $3 million for metal detectors but not invest in security personnel.
“How much are our students’ lives worth? How much are our employees’ lives worth?” she asked.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office had provided school resource officers for the district from 1998 until May 2024, when former Sheriff Ennis Wright announced the department lacked the manpower to renew its contract. As a result, police departments in Fayetteville and Hope Mills were tasked with taking over the role for those municipalities.
Coleman told the Auxiliary Services Committee that the Sheriff’s Office will continue to provide 24 school resource officers for the 2025-26 school year to cover all schools in unincorporated areas of the county.
A spokesman for the city said that at the start of the school year, nine officers had been assigned to the high schools and five are floating between the middle schools and elementary schools
Coleman said that the Fayetteville Police Department was expected to add five more school resource officers, bringing the total to 14 for schools within the city limits by the end of this semester, and by Jan. 31, there is a plan to have four additional officers, he said.
“That would put one in every high school, one in every middle school and they would share and (rotate) as needed through elementary schools with a combination of security guards as well,” Coleman said.
The security guards will not have authority to make arrests, he said.
Coleman said the Hope Mills Police Department has five officers rotating at seven schools in its jurisdiction, and a security guard is at Spring Lake Middle School.
Other concerns
Small said she is also concerned about overall violence in Cumberland County Schools.
She recommended that nonteaching staff be stationed in the hallways near bathrooms to curtail illegal vaping and suggested that school staff and teachers rotate being on buses in the mornings and afternoons to have another adult aboard.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Residents concerned about Cumberland County Schools safety measures