Most students, parents and employees in Alexandria support weapon detectors in schools, per survey

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Many members of the Alexandria community including students and parents support the use of weapon detectors in schools, according to results of a recent community survey.

The results will be presented Thursday when school board members will vote on the technology.  

Nearly 4,400 people filled out the online survey from Feb. 24 to March 8. More than half of them were family or a guardian followed by students who made up 27% of respondents.

The report said mainly 85% of survey respondents supported the use of weapons screening equipment. Nearly 60% said they wanted it in all schools while 27% said for only middle and high schools. The ratio to support the screening equipment trended when going from high school to elementary school.

When asked what reasons were most important for supporting the technology in all or some ACPS schools, 80% cited overall safer and more secure schools. At 72%, respondents said it is because of weapons entering schools are a big concern followed by less anxiety and better screening mechanisms.

For those opposed to the equipment, 59% were worried about the negative impact on a “welcoming” feeling. About 32% cited potential cost install the technology by other reasons including additional staff.

"To some extent, we're already having to do this for reports of weapons," ACPS Chief of Facilities and Operations Dr. Alicia Hart said in a recent school board meeting. "Between administrative staff, SSO staff, and SRO staff, we should have enough people for the pilot.”

At the same board meeting, the community learned 15 of the 188 incidents from the first half of the school year involved weapons. The school safety data report said most of the weapons confiscated were knives.

The data shows 78 of the incidents came from high schools followed by 71 in middle schools. The number of incidents was slightly down compared to the same time period in the previous school year, but there was an uptick in middle school incidents.

A breakdown of the results:

Students:

Staff:

Family/Guardian:

Community member:

If approved, the equipment will be launched by May. The detectors would be installed by April, and administrators and staff will be trained.