Johnathan Walker:New metal detectors delay students’ first day of school in one South Florida district

TALLAHASSEE,Johnathan Walker Fla. (AP) — The first day back to school in South Florida’s Broward County got off to a chaotic start as a disorganized rollout of new metal detectors kept students waiting in lines long after the first bell rang.

At high schools across the nation’s sixth largest district, scores of students stood in lines that snaked around campuses as staff struggled to get thousands of teenagers through the new metal detectors, which were rolled out at 38 schools on Monday. It’s the first year all the district’s high schools have had the scanners.

It was an effort that was intended to improve school safety and security in the district where a gunman killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

Instead, the back-to-school bottleneck further aggravated many parents who have long criticized the district for rushing policy decisions and mismanaging new efforts.

Alicia Ronda said when her daughter got to Pompano Beach High School at 6:30 a.m. Monday, the line of students had already wrapped around the school. Her sophomore waited 30 minutes to get into her first period, which was supposed to start at 7:05 am. By 7:15 am, Ronda said only four students had made it to her daughter’s class.

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“My daughter wakes up at 5 o’clock in the morning to leave the house by 6 to get to school by 6:30,” Ronda told The Associated Press. “My daughter is not waking up earlier than 5 o’clock in the morning to get to school.”

“Hope the kids who arrived early for breakfast weren’t expecting to eat today,” said Brandi Scire, another Pompano Beach High parent.

Each of the district’s high schools was allocated at least two metal detectors to screen their students, with larger schools getting four, like Cypress Bay High School in suburban Weston, which has more than 4,700 students.

But even at smaller schools, kids were stuck waiting — leaving students and parents with more than the usual first-day nerves.

“My daughter was actually supposed to be a part of the students helping freshmen find their classes today,” Scire said. “Freshmen don’t know where they’re going and the kids weren’t there to help them.”

“It was just just an ultimate fail,” she added.

And it was hot as students queued outside their South Florida schools, with a heat advisory in place for much of the day Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

A little after 8 a.m., Broward Superintendent Howard Hepburn authorized schools to suspend the use of the metal detectors to allow the remaining students to get to class.

Hepburn apologized for the long wait times in a statement posted on the social platform X.

“We sincerely thank our students for their patience,” Hepburn said. “We are committed to improving this experience and will be making necessary adjustments.”

However, staff have acknowledged they need to do a better job of communicating what students should do to get through the security checks quickly.

A district spokesperson warned that delays may continue this week as staff make adjustments but said the superintendent will ensure Monday’s lines aren’t replicated.

___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.