The Barrow County Board of Education voted on Thursday to place arms detection in its large schools following weeks of force from parents and students and the arrest of a 14-year-old student who reportedly had a crossbow this year.
Later this month, city officials planned to talk about safety tips, but they moved the discussion to this week. The board voted to spend up to$ 700, 000 to put weapons detection systems in the district’s three high schools.
” We see you, we hear you and we care”, Lisa Maloof, the board director, told guests at the emergency meeting. Before the meeting even started, many of the audience members staged a protest to urge the board to take immediate actions.
School was canceled at Apalachee High on Thursday, following the , arrest , of a pupil who reportedly had a firearm on school premises on Wednesday. Authorities made the arrest about four weeks after another 14-year-old pupil was detained for the shooting deaths of two kids and two teachers at the Winder school on September 4. The committee convened for a brief, behind-the-scenes meeting to discuss “policies related to arms in schools.”
Change for Chee, an advocacy group that was formed after the shooting, has been urging city leaders since the September killing to deploy AI-powered arms monitors, among other suggestions.
According to Superintendent Dallas LeDuff, Barrow County will start receiving OPENGATE arms detectors as soon as next year. At the conclusion of the committee meeting, the crowd erupted into applause.
District leaders have received numerous sales pitches from various businesses about OPENGATE arms detection since 2023, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. One firm called it a , “revolutionary” system , designed to detect “high ability assault weapons and IED products, away to full size weapons”. Another manufacturer claims that the program you “detect everything from high-caliber assault weapons to knives and single-shot micro-pistols to all kinds of silvery threats.” LeDuff did not specify which business may be providing the monitors.
Some metro Atlanta school systems have  , recently , put , Evolv arms detectors , at mid or large schools or in sports stadiums, though they remain unusual nationwide.  , Less than 10 %  , of schools in the U. S. display kids regularly with metal detectors, according to the most recent federal data.
In a protest held before the meeting to urge city leaders to take a similar action, they gathered for the next time this week. Attendees included students, parents, and teachers. Why is there a price tag on our lives was written on evidence that they held. and chanted” Change for Chee”! in between listeners.
Maloof claimed that city employees have been “working carefully for months” to evaluate potential improvements to school safety.
” This was planned for in a few days”, Maloof said,” but in light of the recent events, we moved this meeting to now”.
Although there was no opportunity for people comment on Thursday, many students and parents pressed the table for more at its regular meeting on Tuesday. Some individuals expressed feeling helpless and how being unarmed and with few police officers at college makes them feel uneasy.
” Despite my love for the work made, the Board of Education’s silence is becoming harder to excuse”, said Sasha Contreras, a scholar who was in one of the rooms where the shooting took place.
Before this year, the school board has resolved to get an additional , eight university resource officers , and to put , phones , in classrooms to assist in conversation. The district is currently looking into hiring five full-time therapists and a recovery coordinator for the school. Additionally, the district has brought in a , therapy dog named Beau.
LeDuff promised that more would be added to the safety improvements in Barrow schools.
” Safety is about layers”, he said. ” We will continue to engage experts. We will continue to talk with our community. Our partners in the field of public safety will keep in touch with us. And I’m confident, as I said on Tuesday, our community will get this right”.
___
© 2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
