Pinellas County Schools rolling out weapons detection pilot at two high schools starting Tuesday

Increasing security at Pinellas County high schools

Student safety is a priority for district leaders across the bay area. But, we've already told you about several cases this year where kids have brought weapons to campus. Starting on Tuesday, Pinellas County is taking new steps to ramp up security. FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports.

LARGO, Fla. - The Pinellas County School district is launching a weapons detection pilot program at Palm Harbor University High School and Gibbs High School starting Tuesday.

The district said it selected the two high schools based on their size and number of checkpoints.

"These systems are very much what you've probably seen in some of the larger events within the Tampa Bay area," said Sean Jowell, director of safety and security for Pinellas County Schools. "Disney employs some of these things. Very similar to the retail, big box stores."

What we know:

Students will walk through the detector – which uses a combination of sensors and artificial intelligence – at a normal pace. 

"It is a scan. It’s not intrusive whatsoever," Jowell said. "If something does alert to it, if it's a bag, we're just going to do a bag check like we normally do, and we're allowed to do bag checks on our campuses."

To keep the lines moving, students are asked to come prepared and patient. 

That means handing over four specific items to staff members – remember the acronym, BLUE: 

• Binders
• Laptops
• Umbrellas
• Eyeglass cases

Items students do NOT have to remove: 

1. Cell phone
2. Keys
3. Coins
4. Jackets
5. Belts
6. Wallets
7. Watches & jewelry

District leaders acknowledge this new morning routine will take some getting used to.

"Is there some pushback? Of course there is," Jowell said. "There always is, but that's a balance. And we do the best to kind of be as clear, as transparent, fundamental as we can be when we're going through these pilots. Honestly, I couldn't tell what it's going to look like at the end of this, but we're going to find out."

Dig deeper:

The pilot is district-funded, Jowell said. Before launching, officials did their homework, consulting with school leaders in Manatee and Sarasota counties, where similar technology is already in use.

Moving forward, the district will track the program's data and also survey students and staff. All feedback will be presented to the school board. 

"The idea or the concept is, if we can get this done and get it done correctly and efficiently at these high schools, we most certainly can (do it in) our middle and our elementary schools if the school board chooses to move forward in that direction," Jowell added. 

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Just last year, a 10th-grader was arrested for bringing a stolen gun to Gibbs High School.

What they're saying:

The district admits the ongoing challenge is ramping up protection without compromising a welcoming environment for the kids.

"The last thing I want, the last thing our team wants, the superintendent, the board, is to make it feel like a prison. We don't want that," Jowell said. "But what we'd like to see is if you ask, hey, what's going on behind the schools? And we'll take a peek behind that curtain from a security standpoint. We do, and we're fortunate. We have a lot of things in place to ensure that we have the safest, secure school environment that we can."

The pilot will run through the end of this academic year, which ends in May.