Education Minister, security provider to review metal detector use at ESHS
BVI News correspondent - Thursday, February 7th, 2013 at 11:02 AM
Entrance to Elmore Stoutt High School
Following the removal of a metal detector from the entrance of the Elmore Stoutt High School earlier this week Education Minister Myron Walwyn has given the assurance that the initiative will be revisited to have the system function more efficiently.
Director of Top Priority Services, which provides security at the school, Lesmore Smith said he was away on a training session last week at a New Jersey school learning more about security at schools when he received a phone call asking that the metal detector be removed.
Smith said he returned to the territory on Monday (February 4) and saw that it was removed. He said based on the training he received in New Jersey he will discuss with the Ministry of Education how certain disciplinary procedures can be placed in the local school system.
Smith said he is still trying to enquire who ordered for the metal detectors to be removed.
“I am still trying to get the answers exactly as to who made the call , I am working to find it in a professional way. The key is for us to work together and if there is a decision to be made then let us all decide on the best way forward and let us move forward positively,” Smith said.
“I am the security provider for the institution and if something is to go wrong, I know for a fact they are going to have my head on the chopping block, so I am going to continue to try and to get support from all the stakeholders including the parents,” he added.
He said, “this is not a political issue it’s an issue in which we are trying to help our children. It’s not trying to put pressure on the minister for him to make decisions or the principal for him to make decisions. It is for us to sit down around the table and let us all talk about the benefits, the pros the cons and see how best we can come up with workable solutions that are not infringing their rights but to ensure that their rights are kept. More so safety for them during the time they are within the custody of the school and the Education Department.”
Meanwhile, Education Minister Myron Walwyn said the metal detector was placed at the Elmore Stoutt High School as a test. “Certainly it’s a good initiative that the school implemented but like any project that is new, you have to look at it to see how it works. Certainly to see that it does not interfere with the time and that the students still get into school and into class at a reasonable time.”
The Minister said there are 1,300 students at the Elmore Stoutt High School and “if all of them are to go through one metal detector, then it would certainly take a very long time for them to get into class, into assembly and for instructions to start. We already have difficulties right now with instructional time on some of our subjects already, so certainly while it is a good initiative, we have to certainly make sure that it is done with minimal interruption to the school and to instructional time.”
“So we basically asked for it to stop because it was a test, we are seeing the benefits of it and certainly we may have to look at perhaps investing in a bit more because there are 2 entrances to the school and perhaps we might need 3 or 4 of them so its certainly something we have to look at. It’s a good initiative, it has not been shelved entirely but certainly we have to look at it to make sure it is a lot more efficient,” the Minister said.
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5 Comments
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As the world gets more complicated, it is imperative that some sfety procedures be put in place, both for students and staff. The Virgin Islands are not immune to what happens in the rest of the world. We are all connected by the internet.
The school complex as it is do not lend itself for the smoothe implementation of metal detector.All schools in the US where the security chief went to get his training have the detector in an enclosed building. Students enter the main entrance and there are 2 metal detectorsor one depending on the number of students.There is also adequate space for checking bags etc if the alarm goes off.Also adequate security supervision.Students should be made to just walk through promptly and not linger. 2 mental detectors will reduce the long lines.
The only bad thing about the metal detector is,there is always a long line outside da gate and by the time they finish search everyone the kids will be extremely late for classes
waste of time,,,this is not a concentration camp
Don’t mind the noise Myron, you are cooking with gas. Don’t worry about the haters, majority of us are grateful for your approach to Education and the Territory at large.
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