Citrus schools to start using security wands on campuses; board gets overview of security measures
The Citrus County School District is expected to begin using security wands at schools, and Schools Police Chief Rachel Montgomery recently gave School Board members an overview of the procedures for their use.
“Last week, we had the privilege of sweeping the entire district with training,” Montgomery said at the regular board meeting in Inverness on Tuesday evening. “We visited every school site. We provided training for all principals, assistant principals and deans, on the proper use of the wands.”
She said the district will be posting a video on those procedures, but also showed board members how to tell if the wands are actually working. She also highlighted the rules in place for whether a search of the student should be immediate or await parent involvement.
Montgomery said that if there is a report of a weapon, and the wand alerts to the presence of something, “that’s giving law enforcement enough probable cause to conduct a search of the student, so at that point, we would ask them to step in.”
However, Montgomery said, if the reports is of a vape, staff is instructed to treat that differently.
“If it’s a report of a vape, and the wand is alerting, we’re trying to get the parent involvement in that aspect,” Montgomery told board members.
Montgomery also discussed recent training activities and security enforcement and updates.
“We don’t prop doors open, and teachers know they have to be at the door if the door’s open,” Montgomery said.
She said that is something of which teachers need to be more cognizant.
Board Chair Sandy Counts mentioned the incident at Sandy Hook Elementary as a reason for the high alert regarding unlocked doors.
“We were more scared of our SRO finding our doors unlocked than anybody else,” Counts said. “He was insistent on it, because all those babies were killed because of open doors.”
Montgomery said some SROs have been known to completely remove any items used to prop doors open if they see them, as a precaution.
The chief also discussed the recent active assailant exercise.
“I know a few of you stopped by and got to see the training as it rolled out,” Montgomery said. “I cannot thank Rock Crusher enough for hosting us. There is a lot that goes into planning a training, especially at that level.”
Montgomery said all school resource officers and school guardians, as well as administrators and faculty took part. Everyone got a good idea of different system components like the intercom system, school radios and cameras, law enforcement radios and alert systems, she said.
She also said there were several “key takeaways” from the training event.
“The number one first thing was the collaborativeness between the Sheriff’s Office and the School District was phenomenal,” Montgomery said. “We have not had that opportunity in several years for them to train together. And to see the teamwork that the people that work in schools together got to do was phenomenal. Their response time was, I mean, in less than two minutes.”
She said the training gave them an opportunity to see the live version of what their systems are capable of.
“So if I had any major takeaway from it, I would say finding funding sources to replace our intercom systems, maybe upgrade our computer or our camera systems, and then in that particular area, cell service and radio service is a huge, huge deficit,” said the police chief.
Heading into the next school year, she said she would like to see another collaborative training session with the sheriff’s office.
“It may not be an active assailant – because I hope to God, we never face that – we are very, very prepared for that. We train every single year,” Montgomery said. “I want to see maybe a different training that we can participate in collaboratively. And maybe look at reunification being added with that as well.”
School Board member Doug Dodd agreed he wants future training sessions to incorporate reunification of students and families for training exercises.
“Reunification was a major failure at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,” Dodd said. “It’s not like we don’t know what to do. We have a plan, right? But to practice that plan is critical.”
Dodd also asked about security procedures and plans for events beyond the morning and afternoon bells.
“We’re dealing with bell to bell, which is covered in the law,” Dodd said. “Did we finish that procedure for extracurricular after school events?”
Montgomery said the team is still working on procedures for after school activities. She said it includes working closely with the finance department on manpower.