Fairfax County Public Schools is rolling out advanced weapons detectors to all middle and high schools, but is that enough to keep schools safe? At least one member of the school board says no.
“Technology can identify a weapon or observe a fight, but it requires a human to intervene to seize the weapon or stop the fight,” Mount Vernon District Representative Mateo Dunne told FFXnow.
Though the Fairfax County Police Department has school resource officers embedded in each of the district’s 23 middle schools and 28 high schools, on top of FCPS security personnel, Dunne believes more manpower is still needed.
Dunne says he conducted a survey of middle school and high school principals last year that found a need for at least 80 additional security guards in schools. Actually doing so, he estimates, would cost roughly $6 million annually.
“This would be a rounding error in the $4 billion FCPS budget, but would provide incalculable improvements to school safety and security,” Dunne said.
Dunne had proposed allocating $7.2 million to hire additional security personnel in the fiscal year 2026 budget this spring, but the motion was postponed indefinitely on an 8-4 vote before the school board approved the spending plan at its May 22 meeting. In one scenario, the funds would’ve further reduced a pay raise for non-union staff.
However, Dunne maintains that the board’s decision to pass over his proposal was “a serious error in judgment.”
Dunne pressed Superintendent Michelle Reid on school safety at the school board’s Aug. 28 meeting, which came the day after an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old were killed and 21 were injured in a mass shooting at a private Catholic school in Minnesota.
That incident occurred after a 23-year-old gunman targeted an all-school mass held in the school’s attached church, according to reports. While positioned outside, the gunman reportedly fired at attendees inside through windows, officials said.
While that specific incident wouldn’t have been prevented by FCPS’ new OpenGate detectors, which screen visitors coming into schools, their presence is just one of many moves in a broader process to enhance security, Reid said.
“It’s one layer,” Reid said. “It won’t, on its own, solve all issues around weapons that may be in the school environment, but we know that it’s one strategy … It’s just another preventive step.”
The initial launch of the weapons detectors at the beginning of this school year on Aug. 18 was “a little rocky,” Reid told the school board, with some high schools seeing long lines of students waiting to enter.
Officials are confident, though, that the backups will ease as students and staff become more accustomed to the process. The software will expand to middle schools around late September or early October, Reid said.
“As the systems are deployed, I think each school is modifying and adjusting based on their footprint, their foot traffic, the number of buses versus number of walkers versus number of kiss-and-ride drop-offs,” the superintendent said. “So, each school has a bit of a unique challenge, but I believe that obviously the expectation is we’re going to smooth this out, particularly before it starts raining, because we want to make sure students aren’t outside in inclement weather.”
The weapons screening program is also in effect at school board meetings after the FCPS Office of Safety and Security recommended using the devices for any large gatherings of people, according to Reid.
In addition, Reid noted that “safety specialists” have been added to support Fairfax County’s 142 public elementary schools. FCPS also continues to add security vestibules to school entryways, and it’s exploring installing a more robust emergency alert system internally.
Powered by Raptor Technologies, the software will allow school staff members to directly notify law enforcement and alert fellow employees of ongoing threats. The program will be installed in all school facilities, FCPS security chief Brian Lambert said.
Despite the tweaks, Dunne will continue emphasizing the need for increased manpower.
“I am continuing to advocate for additional security personnel, which students, staff, and families across the county are demanding,” Dunne said
