- November 25, 2024
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Volusia County Schools is proceeding forward with a policy change that would allow randomized screenings on school campuses.
On Tuesday, March 12, the School Board discussed an update to its Policy 208S (208E for elementary schools), to come before them again on April 9 for a vote to advertise. In January, the policy amendments were tabled after concerns by parents that random searches without cause would negatively impact students by creating an intimidating environment at school as well as violate their rights. At the time, though board members were supportive of the safety measure, they were concerned about the way the policy amendment was worded.
Based on that, the district has swapped the usage of random searches with "randomized screenings" and clarified how the screenings will be conducted.
Volusia County Schools attorney Kevin Pendley said that the new proposed language for the amendment will read as follows: "All individuals entering or present upon a Volusia County School site or event are on notice that randomized screenings may be conducted utilizing minimally intrusive electronic devices without cause by the site administrator."
"This feasible and it is legal," Pendley said.
How will the randomized screenings work? A district team will use a computerized, random generator to pick a school and then a specific classroom. The team will then be deployed to the school and students in that classroom will walk through an open gate metal detectors with their backpacks on to minimize loss of instructional time, said Patty Corr, chief operating officer for VCS.
"The sampling from the random screening process will allow us the ability to identify individuals with weapons on campus and thus prevent violence," Corr said. "This is the simplest form of the process and the one most people think about when it comes to the implementation."
Random screenings, she added, discourage students from bringing weapons on campus. In the 2022-2023 school year, there were 82 weapon incidents in schools, according to the district.
Fourteen other school districts in the state confirmed to VCS that they have already implemented a similar policy, including Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Brevard. The district is awaiting responses from 26 other school districts.
School Board member Ruben Colon likened the new procedure to the metal detectors all of Disney Springs visitors must go through; there is no cause to search, he added, unless the metal detector goes off.
"If a child walks through and they don't have anything, guess what? They're done — they keep walking," he said.
Though the word "randomized" is still in the new proposed language for the police, School Board member Anita Burnette said, she feels the policy now explains the procedure better.
"I think that was important — to make sure that our process and procedure reflects that," she said.
School Board member Carl Persis said his concern over the previous version of the policy was the word "searches," which has now been replaced with "screenings." If a student doesn't pass a screening, then that will lead to a search, he said.
"My whole point with this is safety and security is number one," Persis said. "However, traumatizing students unnecessarily is right up there too, and we don't want to scare children."
