ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The school district is immediately starting random, unannounced deployment of metal detectors at its schools, officials announced in an Oct. 23 Facebook post.
The metal detectors will be used through at least the remainder of the year, according to the post.
“The presence of metal detectors at a particular school does not indicate any specific issue or concern at that location,” the Facebook post read. “This is part of our comprehensive security strategy to help maintain a safe and secure learning environment for all.”
Indian River County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Deputy Robert Bonvie talks with students and parents arriving through a metal detector at the Citrus Bowl for Vero Beach High School’s home football game against Fort Pierce Central High School on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. The deputies screen arriving students and parents at football games as a safety precaution.
The district began deploying metal detectors at its schools at the beginning of the school year, with principals communicating their presence in advance to parents and students, district spokesperson Lydia Martin said. The plan was always to switch to unannounced random use of the detectors once all of the schools had a chance to get used to the process.
No specific event lead to the decision to make the deployments unannounced and random, Martin said, as that move was the plan all along.
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Wicker Perlis is TCPalm’s Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: St. Lucie County schools metal detector program changes to unnanounced