Some schools using metal detectors only sparingly, some not at all
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Escambia County School System officials admitted during a workshop prior to the March 22 school board meeting that the metal detectors purchased last year to strengthen security at all county schools are not doing the job for which they were designed.
But officials admit it’s not any mechanical failure that is preventing the system from enjoying the full expected benefit of the metal scanners. The main problem cited by officials is that only a relative handful of schools are actually using the devices on more than a sporadic basis, and some are not using them at all.
In March 2024, Deputy Director of Operations Shaun Goolsby told the BOE that staff members at each school would have to be taught how to properly use the electronic security devices before full implementation is done. There was a second factor that also precluded full use of the machines.
“We still have to go through the training process with our staff in how to use those machines, as well as procedures and standards of how we will use them,” Goolsby said.
The second part of that statement is apparently where the school security project has hit a snag. Superintendent of Education Dr. Michele Collier, who was an assistant superintendent when the decision to implement such stringent security measures received the BOE’s blessing, explained that no concrete protocols and procedures have yet been developed.
“Currently, it’s up to each principal’s discretion how the metal detectors are used,” explained the superintendent. “We found that some principals are only using them on occasion and some principals are not using them at all. We found that some are just collecting dust.”
She did not point out which schools were guilty of mothballing the security devices, either temporarily or permanently.
Goolsby said Gulf States Distributors, from which the detectors were bought, provided training at the onset of the purchase and would return from Montgomery if more training is needed.
Atmore News archives show the county school system purchased about three-dozen hand-held “wands” and about the same number of pass-through detectors (which are portable) at a cost of “around $130,000.” A school safety grant covered $100,000 of that, while the remainder came from local funds.
Goolsby and school maintenance department employee Jamie Crawford put on a demonstration for the seven board members. One of the detectors was set up in the doorway to the BOE meeting room, and the metallic buzz of metal detection constantly sliced through the air as attendees passed through the unmanned device.
Goolsby said the stand-alone unit, as well as the hand-held wand used to check for metal in places where the first line of defense might have missed, can be adjusted to fit the need. Goolsby explained that the sensitivity level of either component can be set to where it will pick up vapes, with or without the charger.
That has become a key mission of school officials, who were recently told that so many vapes had been disposed of in the W.S. Neal High School plumbing system, that they have almost created a blockage that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove.
Newly hired Assistant Superintendent Cindy Wilson said the East Brewton school is the only one she’s aware of where such a problem exists.
“It’s the only one I know about right now that has vapes in the plumbing,” said Wilson, who has been on the job only since April 21.
Dr. Collier said vaping has become a problem at all levels of the county’s educational network.
“This is a K-12 issue,” she revealed. “They [students] are hiding them [vapes] in the urinals and other places. Maybe we can slow the problem down with the metal detectors.”
District 5’s Loumeek White said no amount of diligence is going to bring an absolute end to that predicament.
“They’re going to hide them,” he said of vape-using students. “We are not going to be able to totally eliminate them.”
BOE Chair Coleman Wallace, who represents District 7, agreed with board attorney Kirk Garrett that the devices are worthless unless they are going to be used to their fullest extent.
“In my opinion, they should be used 100 percent of the time,” Wallace said. “Our policy is not structured enough; we need to specify who, what and where.”
During the regular board session that followed the workshop, BOE members:
*Approved a contract with KAM Technologies to install network equipment upgrades in the recently renovated wing at A.C. Moore Primary School. The $41,760.83 cost will be paid from FY24 Advancement & Technology (A&T) funds.
*Approved a $59,000 contract with Creamer Dozier Service Inc. for site work and concrete pad at Flomaton High School Stadium. That project will also be funded by FY24 A&T funds.
*Approved a contract with Transfinder to furnish routing software to the system’s transportation department. The $21,440 expenditure will be paid for with state transportation funds.
*Approved an overnight trip for students of Escambia Career Readiness Center to attend the SkillsUSA National Conference in Atlanta from June 23 through June 27.
*Approved an amended supplemental salary schedule for 2024-25.
Garrett and board members went into executive session for about 20 minutes at the end of the meeting to discuss potential or pending litigation. A resolution discussed during the session was approved when the meeting reconvened.
The following personnel recommendations by Dr. Collier were approved by the Board.
The following personnel recommendations by Escambia County School Superintendent Dr. Michele Collier were approved by the Board.
The following abbreviations are used:
Escambia County Board of Education – ECBOE
A.C. Moore Primary School – ACMPS
Huxford Elementary School – HES
Rachel Patterson Elementary School – RPES
Escambia County Middle School – ECMS
Escambia County High School – ECHS
Flomaton Elementary School – FES
Flomaton High School – FHS
Pollard McCall Junior High School – PMJHS
W.S. Neal Elementary School – WSNES
W.S. Neal Middle School – WSNMS
W.S. Neal High School – WSNHS
Brewton Bus Shop – BBS
OSESS – Office of Special Education & Student Services
Note: The date at the end of each item is the effective date.
Retirement
1. Wesley Sessions, physical education teacher, FHS, June 1
2. Julie Newton, TEAMS math teacher, FHS, June 1
Resignation
1. Kimberly Hester, teacher, FES, May 23
2. Lorri Michelle Tolbert, 7-hour lunchroom worker, HES, May 22
3. Tierra Blaze Rolin, secretary / registrar, HES, May 30
4. Rheanna Thomas, special education aide, WSNES, May 22
5. Julie Carnley, custodian, WSNMS, (amended), April 1
6. Karen Layton, social studies teacher, WSNMS, May 23
7. Gail Peace, part-time academic interventionist, WSNMS, May 23
8. Hugh T. Fountain, physical education teacher / career prep, WSNHS, May 23
9. Kimberly Huggins, bus driver, BBS, July 31
10. Deborah Silcox, part-time special education teacher, OSESS, May 23
11. June Kent, part-time special education teacher, OSESS, May 23
12. Hannah Bryant, speech language pathologist, OSESS, May 23
Employment
1. Michael Bowens, JAG career specialist, ECBOE, July 23
2. Stephanie Thomas, media specialist, ACMPS, Aug. 1
3. Joshua Hardy, physical education teacher, FES, Aug. 1
4. Haley White, math coach-202 day, PMJHS, (amended), July 28
5. Lisa Marshall, custodian, WSNMS, May 23
Employment change
1. Raquel Davis, from elementary curriculum & instruction supervisor to personnel administrator / supervisor, ECBOE, July 1
2. Anna Wheeler, from TEAMS math, ECMS, to science teacher, WSNMS, Aug. 1
3. Tonya Howard, from 7-hour lunchroom worker to CNP manager WSNHS, Aug. 1
Transfer
1. John Stephens, business teacher, from ECMS to FHS, July 23
Leave of absence
1. Kaley Mann, teacher, RPES, April 14 – May 9
Summer employment
1. Sharmon O’Bannon, counselor, FES, May 27
2. Leketha Bradley, counselor, PMJHS, May 27
3. Teresa Crayton, counselor, RPES, May 27
4. Anna Wheeler, teacher, ECBOE, June 1
5. Kelli Grace, teacher, ECBOE, June 1
6. Allison Britt, teacher, ECBOE, June 1
Summer school employment
The following are effective June 2
1. WSNMS, Bailey Johnson, Camp Big Blue
2. WSNMS, Jennifer Blaney, Camp Big Blue
3. WSNMS, Sydnie OBannon, Camp Big Blue
4. WSNMS, Erin Howard Camp Big Blue
The following are effective May 27
5. WSNES, Deanna Edwards, Jumpstart para
6. FES, Ashlianne Marie Caraway, instructional para
7. HES, Amy Bedsole instructional Para
8. HES, April Brantley SPED para
9. HES, Cynthia Scott, teacher
10. HES, Katie Camp, SPED teacher
11. HES, Lynn Kilpatrick, Huxford substitute
12. District, Clara Talton, SPED services
13. District, Sara Lowrey, bus driver
14. District, Alex Worede, bus driver
15. District, Michelle Brantley, nurse
Summer school student employment
1. RPES, Gracie Mosley, teacher aide / camp, May 27
2. HES, Ava Woods, teacher aide / camp, May 27
3. FHS, Ross Bell, office, June 2
4. FES, Meri Kent, teacher aide / camp, May 27
5. WSNHS, Henry Wilson, general maintenance, May 27
6. WSNHS, Grady Goolsby, general maintenance, May 27
7. T.R. Miller, Ian Watson, general maintenance, May 27
8. WSNHS, Braydon Armstrong, general maintenance, May 27