CMS focuses on school safety after record-breaking year for weapons detected

CHARLOTTE — After a record-breaking year of weapons found in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, safety measures will look a bit different for students returning to school on Monday.

CMS Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh will start off the school year by sending off the nearly 1,000 buses driving off the lot on Downs Road, carrying many of the district’s 141,000 students.

Once students arrive to campus, the routine to walk through the doors could be a bit different for some.

While many high schools installed weapons detectors last year, the detectors will be new for students and staff at some middle and K-8 schools.

A total of 31 firearms were found inside the schools last year, including one found on just the second day of school in Lancaster County.

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The weapons detectors have already had some hiccups since they were installed. District officials have been training students and staff on workarounds because things like binders and laptops have been setting them off.

Shantel McClain a senior at Philip O Berry High School, told reporter Jonathan Lowe what it is like having the scanners at school.

>>WATCH Ch. 9 starting at 4:30 a.m. Monday for more on how the district is responding to an increase in crime on North Mecklenburg Campuses this year.

“At the beginning it was kinda like iffy, ‘cause like I don’t understand it, ‘cause we have to hold our Chromebooks above our heads when we walk through it, and they have to scan our bookbags if it goes off or something like that. But if you go through it fine, you should be OK. So it doesn’t bother me as much as before,” McClain said.

CMS has also expanded part of its school resource officer program.

(WATCH BELOW: Here’s how CMS is ensuring students have mental health resources they need)