Green Bay Area Public School District building. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — It appears weapon detection systems will not be coming to Green Bay schools — at least, not anytime soon.
Last week the Board of Education for the Green Bay Area Public School District voted against the implementation of a pilot program for weapon detection systems that had been recommended by GBAPS Superintendent Vicki Bayer.
The motion failed on a 5-2 vote.
“I think you saw tonight was that the board didn’t think that this was the right control that we could implement right now and provide the security that you know I think that the public is requiring or requesting us,” said GBAPS Board of Education President James Lyerly.
Lyerly, along with GBAPS Board of Education Trustee, Jeanette Knill, were the two to vote in favor of the program.
Bayer previously said this pilot program would allow the district time to evaluate operational fidelity, equipment effectiveness and impact on school climate and safety. The program would have tried out the systems at each of the district’s four high schools at separate times.
At the time, the school board wanted more information on program details and cost.
According to the district’s Chief Operations Officer, Cale Pulczinski, the district received information from four vendors.
Each response varied on cost, program length and equipment.
When she first introduced the idea, Bayer noted it’s possible funding could come from a grant.
“I don’t think the funding is available immediately but there is a grant out there from the Office of School Safety,” said Bayer.
“We are exploring it there is concern that these are not eligible for the grants,” said Pulczinski.
“I think there’s a lot more important things that we should be doing and spending our time on that can directly decrease the amount of negative and dangerous behavior in our schools many of which do not cost us any money,” said GBAPS Board of Education Trustee, Alex Mineau.
What could be coming next?
“I am sure that we will have action on things in the near future that are security related. Just can’t speak to what they are right now,” said Lyerly.
Although weapon detection systems were voted against on Monday, the district and the board can revisit the topic in the future.
Limitations of the systems discussed at a prior school board meeting included:
- False positives and negatives
- Bottlenecking at the entrance
- Staffing requirements
- System evasion
- Impact on school culture and climate
- Cost
Adding weapon detection systems came under consideration as part of a larger GBAPS safety discussion that began after a Preble High School student brought a loaded handgun and ammunition to school in September.
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