Monday, the Horry County School District started using metal detectors in every middle and high school in the county, and they'll be in use every school day from now on.
The new metal detector policy was triggered by a shooting last week, when a 14-year-old student was charged with shooting at a school resource officer and bringing 2 pipe bombs to Socastee High School.
We visited Socastee High Monday morning for the first day of the new policy, although metal detectors had been used at the school since last Tuesday's shooting. Leaders at Socastee High say the screening went smoothly, though there is a cost involved, in lost time. But Principal Paul Browning says this is the new reality and the school will figure out a way to make it work.
It takes about an hour and 15 minutes for 1,400 students to go through security screening at Socastee High School. Since teachers are doing the work, the screening cuts into their classroom preparation time and that's a concern for Browning. "The time that we've spent in building relationships with kids and helping kids we're now having to man metal detectors, so that's a change for us and there's a cost involved."
Metal detectors were not in use last Tuesday, when police say the 14-year-old student shot at a school resource officer. Browning says he has no regrets for not using the detectors that day. He says the school wasn't ready yet. "And the truth of the matter is, metal detectors would have made absolutely no difference in what happened here."
Browning says the boy would have found a way to get around the detectors, like hiding the gun outside and going back to get it later. He says school leaders hope the shooting was an isolated incident that will never happen again. In the meantime, they'll do their best to discourage kids from bringing the wrong things to school. "If the metal detectors have any positive, that'll be the positive, is that kids will no longer bring things to school that get them in trouble," Browning said.
So far, teachers have volunteered for security duty, and haven't been rewarded for it, but that was when it took place just once a week.
Now that it's going to be every day, Browning says teachers who volunteer may be offered additional time off or similar compensation.
The Horry County School District has about 80 metal detectors, spread out over 21 middle and high schools.
