Guilford County school board talks school security updates

GREENSBORO, NC — At Tuesday night’s Guilford County Board of Education meeting, the board provided a safety update on school safety.

Safety and Security Executive Director Mike Richey explained what is being done to ensure all students are protected at all schools in the district.

Richey said car crashes have been the leading cause of death among children for decades, but in 2020 gun deaths surpassed them.

One topic Richey discussed was an update on the non-contact body scanners that will be installed in all high schools.

Guilford County schools said the scanners are being monitored by staff.

Kearns Academy and Academy at Smith started their term last week and have already installed the screeners.

Next week they will be placed in the remaining high schools, with training being conducted at each school.

“Our next steps are the rest of the screeners. They are actually in our warehouses here in Guilford County today. They’ve been here for about a week and we’re installing them in each of the remaining high schools next week, August 15-18,” Richey said.

Another area that is being talked about is the CrisisGo app.

This app allows teachers to speak directly to administrative staff during the school day to report incidents or share information.

What is new this year is that students can now report incidents directly to the administration themselves and anonymously.

“Almost every threat we’ve mitigated this year came because a child told an adult they contacted the right person to get help,” Richey said.

He also stressed the importance of developing strong relationships between students and trusted staff.

Richey said this makes the biggest difference in school safety.

He also spoke about security cameras in schools, saying they will receive an update to the video management system, as well as additional security cameras to be installed as needed.

RELATED: Calling All Parents! Take the WFMY Back-to-School 2022 Survey

Guilford County schools said the scanners are being monitored by staff. Students, staff and guests go through the non-contact scanners when entering the building.

GCS said if someone leaves the school campus, they must come through the front entrance to re-enter the campus through the scanners.

“Schools with multiple entrances will direct campus access through central locations, and screening devices will be installed at each of those locations,” GCS spokeswoman Gabriel Brown told WFMY.

The body scanners are designed to detect objects such as the barrel of a gun.

When the scanner triggers, an employee pulls the person aside and only searches the area that triggered the screener.

GCS said if a weapon is found, the school will follow its safety plan, which includes working with the school’s resource officer and other emergency services.

The school system said they will consider using the scanners in other settings, such as sporting events, as the school year progresses.

The school district said it will cost them $800,000 a year for the scanners. They’ll use federal money to cover the costs for the first two years, but after that they’ll have to figure out how to afford it.

Students at Guilford County Schools with traditional schedules are returning to classrooms on August 29.