Bellefonte Area schools to purchase metal detectors, safety upgrades. Here’s what to know

Bellefonte Area School District is purchasing metal detectors for its middle and high schools to increase student safety.

During its Tuesday night meeting, the BASD school board approved a motion to purchase seven portable metal detectors, costing $44,800. Four are to be stationed at the high school and three at the middle school, although they can be moved for sporting events or to other buildings as needed.

Ken Bean, the district’s director of fiscal affairs, said they’ll be calibrated to alert for larger items like weapons or nicotine vape pens.

“Obviously, you want to check for weapons and things, but you don’t want it picking up keychains and cell phones and things like that,” Bean told the CDT.

Calibrating for larger items means students will be able to keep backpacks on and keep building entrances from getting clogged while still keeping unnecessary or dangerous items out of the building. Although students bringing in weapons hasn’t been an issue for the district, Bean said he hopes the detectors will help cut down the number of students bringing in vape pens.

The metal detectors will be operated by the district’s school resource officers and its director of safety and security while in use. Bean said it’s unlikely the metal detectors will be in use every day but it’s important for the district to have the option when needed, like in the case of social media threats similar to the one Bellefonte High experienced in March 2023.

“Initially it wasn’t really for this but, after the conversations and seeing what we could do with them, I think it is definitely a positive,” Bean said. “There’s other local school districts that have these up and running every day.”

The board also unanimously approved a motion to replace the district’s analog radios with digital handheld radios to improve communication between all buildings for $80,106. The nearly $125,000 in safety upgrades will be funded through grant money available through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.