After tumultuous week of brawls and guns, Wichita schools announce new security measures

Michael Stavola, Eduardo Castillo
Eduardo Castillo/The Wichita Eagle

Officials at Wichita Public Schools, the largest district in the state, announced new safety precautions following a tumultuous week that included multiple brawls and students being arrested for bringing a gun to school.

Terri Moses, director of safety and environmental services, said Wednesday the school district will put automated screening devices — which she said are a step up from traditional metal detectors — at all of its high schools. There will be 45 to 50 devices at a cost of up to $1.5 million, she said.

“This is a sign of our times,” Moses said, referring to guns in the community and at other schools nationwide.

The cost of the screening devices will have to be approved by the school board during next week’s meeting. She said each device cost about $20,000, compared to about $5,000 for the metal detectors the district now uses at sporting events and graduation.

Metal detectors use costly batteries and alert to any metal, she said. The automated devices will allow students to walk in a single file and alert school officials if a gun or bomb is found on them.

Moses didn’t have a timeline for when the devices would be installed. She couldn’t say if it would be done before winter break because of supply chain issues that started during the pandemic.

She said there could be delays getting through the devices after they are installed, but those should decrease as students adjust to them.

The district had considered the devices for the last few years, she said, but they were too costly and wouldn’t have been accepted by the community. During the news conference at the district office, she said she was “barbecued by some of you folks” when she recommended fences years ago, but after the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, school districts are happy to have the fencing.

“Security is one of those things that you have to take step by step because the community is not going to handle things that are too far-reaching but they are going to accept things if you have reasons to put them in place,” she said.

She said five guns have been found on students since the start of school last month. One was outside of a school and the rest were inside. There have been whole school years where five guns were found, she said.

Through the manufacturer CEIA USA, school officials spoke with a school district in Lancaster, Texas, that has the devices. Moses didn’t know if any schools in Kansas used the devices.

Sandra Pachomski said she doesn’t like the idea of the screening devices in schools, but sees the need to keep children safe. Pachomski has several family members in Wichita schools.

“That just seems so bizarre... but we can’t keep sitting around talking about it. We got to do something.”

Wednesday’s announcement follows a letter sent to parents and guardians Friday by superintendent Dr. Alicia Thompson that mentioned the forthcoming security improvements after a “rash of incidents.” It didn’t say that two students had been arrested for bringing guns to school, but instead said they brought weapons.

No one was injured in the fights last week, Moses said. Those incidents included:

A letter sent home by Wichita South High School principal Travis Rogers mentioned the fireworks and students yelling “gun” but didn’t mention that happened during a large fight.

When asked if that was misleading, Moses said: “I don’t believe so. I think the important part was relayed to the parents.”

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