A long line of Waco High students stretches from the school’s main entrance to the Colcord Avenue curb most mornings before classes begin.
They inch forward, many toting clear backpacks crammed with books and daily school gear, as they walk through the school’s “prohibited items detector,” which uses artificial intelligence to scan for weapons and suspiciously shaped objects. The detector, created by Evolv Technology, is used at public schools across the country, including Killeen Independent School District.
Staff members and teachers, some with electronic wands, help move students forward through the security check while others walk outside, chatting good naturedly with students in line and welcoming others as they arrive by car and school bus.
It is the new normal at Waco High and district schools, a year after new security measures were implemented to address incidents of weapon possession and student fights. Prohibited-item and metal detectors are in place at Waco ISD secondary schools, and clear backpack requirements have expanded beyond the high schools. The prohibited-item detectors do not require students to remove metal items as traditional metal detectors would, but still result in lines.
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The last year also has seen significant upgrades in facility security required by state law, such as perimeter fencing, armed personnel at every school, window film designed to slow entry through a broken pane, and external door locks. State grants totaling more than $2.1 million paid for the fencing, security film and door locks.
The district was already addressing issues of perimeter fencing and entrance access before the state security requirements, said Suzanne Hamilton, the district’s safety coordinator and executive director of student services. Regardless of physical upgrades, a crucial part of school security is simply paying attention, she said.
“All of this depends on people being aware: paying attention, being aware and asking questions,” Hamilton said.
In terms of reported incidents, a school safety and student behavior report presented to Waco ISD trustees last month found no weapons reported during the first two grading periods of the fall and fewer student assaults of district employees. Fights, however, continued to be high at some campuses, particularly G.W. Carver Middle School and Waco High, and vaping incidents, including possession and use, jumped, largely because of a new and more restrictive state law.
Waco High senior Xiara Berry, 18, said the changes have been palpable and desired, even if they complicate her typical school day. The move to transparent backpacks was a concern initially. Berry and other female students were not thrilled at the prospect of having personal hygiene items and the like viewable by classmates, but raising those privacy concerns helped resolve the issue.
“It (a see-through backpack) was necessary and needed … and should have been done way before high school,” Berry said. “It makes me feel safe, obviously.”
The introduction of a prohibited items detector to the daily routine was not much of a surprise. As a volleyball player, she saw detectors at other high schools on road trips.
She also said the increased fencing around Waco High and the limiting of students to a single entry made a noticeable difference.
“We had people not even in Waco High on campus last year,” Berry said.
Having to switch to transparent backpacks, longer waits to get into school, more frequent reminders about proper display of student ID tags, restricted access to campus: those are hassles, she admits, but shrugs.
“It’s just how my day is,” Berry said, counting the days to graduation and the next phase of life as a student at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin.
There, she plans to play volleyball and earn a social work degree.
A Waco High student since ninth grade, she said she gets a little irritated that her school gets attention for problems, shared by University High School and other high schools, while Waco High achievements in extracurricular activities, volunteer efforts and academics go overlooked.
“The media puts out so much bad things,” Berry said. “They don’t see the good at all.”
Waco High Principal Sterlin McGruder, in his second year as the school’s head, certainly feels a change.
“What a difference a year makes,” McGruder said. “It’s so much more peaceful this year.”
It has been a group effort, he is quick to say, from staff and teachers to the school’s 1,900 students, and still “a work in progress.”
The changes have required creative thinking at times. To get students delayed by security screening or late buses to classes sooner, the school sets up grab-and-go breakfasts on a table to cut out detours to the cafeteria.
Student and community buy-in also has been crucial. While technology and hardware have a place in school security, it takes people to handle issues of student behavior. Waco High has added behavioral management personnel to work with students on issues such as conflict resolution and anger management, part of a districtwide emphasis on social-emotional instruction.
“Yelling won’t change behavior, but relationships will,” McGruder said.
He and his staff determined that rivalry and distrust between some student groups were behind some of the school’s biggest fights last year. Engaging with those students rather than expelling them has kept them in class and earning credits while lowering the flashpoint for fighting.
Waco ISD Trustee Jeremy Davis said that is the approach he supports.
Over the last two years, Davis frequently called for attention to the human element of school safety in the board’s public discussions of it, particularly at Waco High and the then plans-in-progress for the new Carver Middle School.
“You have to have a strong behavior system and strong behavior teams,” he said, adding that social-emotional instruction is a part of that.
A year’s worth of districtwide security improvements has made a difference, he said.
“I feel families feel more secure, but it’s definitely a work in progress,” Davis said.
Waco ISD Board President Stephanie Korteweg agreed the past year has seen improvements.
She has heard fewer concerns about school safety from parents and teachers over the last year, she said.
“As a board member, you always hear the problems … but I think there’s a sense of relief and security,” Korteweg said.
In implementing systems such as the Evolv Technology detectors, the district is employing current technology to address issues of security and safety. Waco ISD Superintendent Susan Kincannon, in fact, recently participated in a Texas School Safety Center podcast to share what Waco ISD is doing for security. She also spoke to the use of artificial intelligence in schools in a South by Southwest panel discussion on “Generative AI in Class: Female Leadership Perspectives.”
“Waco ISD is leading the pack in using technology in troubleshooting and finding what areas should be shored up,” Korteweg said. “Technology is not cheap, but this administration’s top priority is to ensure each campus is safe.”
She said Kincannon and her administration also provide the “human capital” to campuses and school leaders to help them address concerns raised by parents and students.
At-large Trustee Keith Guillory said a year of security improvements has him feeling the district is moving forward in the right direction. Like Davis, he had raised questions at board meetings about student safety and school design about two years ago.
“I feel we’re in a much better place than we were a few years ago,” Guillory said. “We on the school board are all on the same page on keeping students safe. We just want to be intentional about keeping everyone safe.”