ZANESVILLE − The Maysville Local School District hopes to implement new weapon detectors this month after the purchase was approved in the board of education’s October meeting.
“This is absolutely more of a proactive measure than a reactive measure,” noted Brian Blum, superintendent of Maysville Local School District.
Six new weapon detectors were bought for $118,000 from a company called OpenGate. The purchase was sourced from the school district’s general operating fund.
One detector will be installed in the administration center, three will be added to Maysville’s Middle and High schools (6-12 building), and two will be put in Maysville Elementary.
The detectors have already been delivered and require staff training before being put into use.
“All of our administrators, our SROs, our director of safety, all of us will be receiving those trainings because we will be the ones responsible for setting them up every morning and calibrating them and making sure they are ready to go, so we need to learn that whole process,” Blum said.
The detection systems are capable of different sensitivities, so depending on the school’s day-to-day needs or events, the detectors can be calibrated to catch anything as aggressive as guns and knives to more benign items like vape pens.
“You can make it very sensitive, or you can just worry about weapons coming in.
“It’s another layer of safety that we are adding to our school system,” Blum noted. “The board thought this was a very proactive way to try to improve student and staff safety.”
The district has a safety committee that has met for the past two years, focusing on ways to improve school and student safety. Some other recent upgrades include updated intercom systems and door buzzers with connected sensors and cameras and two-way radios for administrators and safety personnel.
Shawn Digity is a reporter for the Zanesville Times Recorder. He can be reached at sdigity@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Maysville schools install six weapon detectors as ‘proactive measure’
