SALT LAKE CITY — Three Salt Lake City School District high schools that installed weapons detectors to help keep students and staff safe have learned the district will not fund staffing for the machines heading into the upcoming school year.
West High School, East High School and Highland High School, along with the Horizonte Instruction and Training Center, now wonder how they'll move forward.
"When we put them in this last fall, we knew that it would be on a trial basis," explained Salt Lake City School District spokesperson Yandary Chatwin, "they were on a trial basis for a short time, and now we're working on figuring out what next steps are."
The district was hoping for a school safety grant from the Utah State Boar of Education to help with funding, but its application was not fulfilled due to it not meeting the criteria for funding.
"They explained that it was rejected because they believe that the proposal basically amounted to supplanting funds, which is using money towards a purpose that has already designated funds for," explained Carmen Nesbitt, education reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune
Earlier this month, the district board voted 4-3 against spending $1.5 million from their own fund to staff the system. Board members who voted against the funding claimed they don't see the merit of weapon detectors and are not convinced of their efficacy.
The district itself says the detectors are working.
"Is it the perfect end all, be all tool? No, nothing really is, and we're doing everything that we can," said Chatwin.
As for this school year, the machines will stay in place since they are on a four-year lease, but trained professionals won't be available to make the machines effective.
"Some schools may have room in their budgets to fund staffing on their own, just at their one school," added Chatwin. "Some schools may choose to use these at extracurricular events like sporting events or dances on campus."
The district hopes they can find a way to continue to make sure school is a safe place.
"Just because you may not have weapons detectors at your child's school does not mean that we're not prioritizing their safety," Chatwin said. "We are always looking for the latest technology, the best practices to implement in our schools."
