Metal detectors installed at 4 Edinburg CISD high schools
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Big changes are happening at the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District.
Four of their high schools now have metal detectors.
Students who attend Edinburg High School, Economedes High School or Robert Vela High School now have new security checks. The district says they were added to keep students and staff safe.
The district installed four metal detectors at four high schools. The metal detectors went live on Monday.
This comes months after an Edinburg North High School student was found with a gun on campus.
"Each high school has a different floor layout, so they have different strategic entry points, but each have two or three entry points," ECISD Executive Director for Support Services Anthony Garza said.
At Edinburg North, there are three entry points to better handle the more than 2,000 students coming into the school daily.
But after 9 a.m., the only entry point will be through the front office.
"When they go through the metal detector, they need to empty out all their pockets, the cell phone, the laptop, that's going to make it beep so they put that around the side," Garza said. "If they have something they shouldn't then we'll go to the student code of conduct, and they face the consequences for that violation."
ECISD parent Elizabeth Rodriguez says the new security measure makes her feel better about dropping off her child at school.
"It's going to keep them safer, even though it's a little harder for them to get in the morning," Rodriguez said. "I mean, they got to do what they got to do to keep the students and the staff safe."
Rodriguez says she's on board with the idea of detectors, but says the reason why they're needed is disappointing.
"I had kids in elementary, and they should start there too. You never know these days," Rodriguez said. "I tell her if anything happens at your school, you take cover the best you can. Times are different now."
The district has already implemented other safety measures, like shatterproof windows, alert devices on phones for campus officials and six-foot high fencing around schools.
They say parents help is still needed.
"No initiative is foolproof. We still need parents to monitor their children's backpacks daily, look through their backpacks, talk to them about prohibited items, don't take anything that they shouldn't," Garza said.
The district says they're working to get more detectors. Their goal is to have them at each school in the district. The timeline however is a work in progress.
Watch the video above for the full story.
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