Broward Public Schools will try metal detectors to catch weapons (and vapes). Here’s how

Raisa Habersham
·1 min read
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Superintendent Peter B. Licata addresses the attendees of the “Redefining Our Schools” workshop.

In an effort to reduce weapons in schools, The Broward County School Board voted Wednesday to pay about half a million dollars to install metal detectors in 10 schools for the 2024-2025 school year.

Currently the district uses handheld metal detectors.

“Metal detectors are not the answer or end all, be all, but we’ve seen the reduction of weapons found in other counties,” Broward County Superintendent Peter Licata told reporters after the board’s decision. “Also, we’ve seen a significant reduction of vape pens. So that is a great consequence to it.”

Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines and J.P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs will pilot the metal detectors during the summer, Broward Schools Superintendent Peter Licata told reporters.

The district will pay $540,000 to install metal detectors at Flanagan and Taravella high schools and eight other schools. Those schools will be announced over the next few weeks, Licata said. He expects that the schools will be equipped with at least three each.

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Since the 2022-2023 school year, Broward County Public Schools has had 220 weapons-related incidents and 3.6% of those incidents involved guns, according to the district.

The district will start installing the metal detectors in high schools first before gradually installing them in middle schools, Licata said.

The decision came months after the school district decided against requiring clear bookbags for this school year. The initial measure was to deter students from bringing weapons to schools.