At Leominster High School a new safety tool has been implemented into the school.
In response to recent security concerns, our school has taken a proactive step to ensure the safety of students, staff, and visitors during sporting events.
There may be a weapon detector at several of our events.
As students and visitors approach the main entrance to the school or Doyle Field, they may be required to walk through the weapon detector. The process is similar to passing through a metal detector at an airport.
By implementing this technology our school will ease the anxiety or worries of a weapon being brought into a school function.
The device was recently tested at the entrance to CTEi to see how it performed and to see what type of delay it created on students entering the building.
” We are in charge of your safety,” LHS Dean of Students Barry Hudson said. “We have to have a safe school and I don’t think people will see it differently. We overall believe it’s a positive thing.”
According to administrators, the weapon detector will mainly be used at games for the safety of students and visitors. The number of fights and/or violence at the LHS games was concerning and it needed a solution and that’s where the weapon detector idea came about – from a lot of discussions. The overall goal for this new weapon detector was to keep the students safe. Administrators added that a good benefit of the device is that it is portable so it can go to other schools if needed.
When asked if he was concerned what message or image the weapon detector would send to the public regarding LHS, LHS Principal Dr. Joshua Romona explained, “The main idea with school safety is knowing that people address the problem.”
When asked as they walked in, students said ” I think it’s an overall good idea to have it because it can decrease the probability of something bad happening here,” while another student thought ” I understand why they brought it in and the whole reasoning makes sense. It just worries me a little since I like going to the basketball games, but they are starting to get too much for me. But in the end, the detector should mostly solve that problem, hopefully.”
