Dec. 14, 2024 8a
(WGTD)---Kenosha Unified appears to be headed down the same path as Racine Unified in considering whether body scan-type detectors should be installed at school building entrances.
Two years ago, RUSD began installing weapon detectors in many of its schools.
Kenosha Unified Superintendent Jeff Weiss announced this past week that he’s forming a committee to explore the topic, and will present a report at next month’s school board meeting. The genesis for the Kenosha committee is two recent gun-related incidents in KUSD.
Eric Oertel is RUSD’s Director of Safety and Security. He says 14 high school and middle schools in Racine have what he calls ‘weapon detection’ systems. "They're not metal detectors," he explains. "What they do is sound an alert if something that has a similar shape, makeup or density of a weapon."
Students are scanned as they walk at a normal pace through the detectors. If an alarm is triggered, then a secondary search is performed, most of the time with a metal-detecting wand at a separate location, Oertel said.
The machine is just one tool that the district uses to keep kids safe, Oertel says. He calls school safety everyone’s responsibility.
The mere presence of such systems act to keep contraband out of schools, including vape pens, according to Oertel. "Our students respect the system," he said.
-0-