FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - During their second day of school, Broward County students continued to face some delays after metal detectors were introduced.
After a chaotic first day, progress is slowly being made at several Broward schools as administrators continue to add more metal detectors and additional entrances.
On Tuesday, Broward Superintendent Howard Hepburn posted on “X” that there were no issues district-wide after the detector disaster that happened during the first day of school.
“What a difference a day makes. Definitely more efficient based on some adjustments we made as staff,” Hepburn said. “This is brand new, and once our students get their routines down, we won’t have any issues at any of our schools.”
7Skyforce hovered above Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, where students waited outside in lines.
“It’s the second day back to school in the 954 and we’re at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, check it out. They have three lines,” said 7skyforce reporter Steven Gray. “They have a line over here for a metal detector here, where things aren’t too bad. They have this bigger line over here to the right, in the front entrance of the school. Where things are a little stacked up here.”
The improvements could be seen by both school administrators and students.
“I feel like the first day the administrators didn’t really know what they were doing but now it’s moving a little bit smoother,” said a student.
“The enhancements that we have implemented are already making a noticeable difference in the efficiency and safety of our school entry process,” said Lori Alhadeff, a Broward County school board member.
Hepburn on Monday addressed the concerns caused by the metal detectors.
“We want to definitely apologize to our public because we know this is a stressful time, it’s a new routine for students,” Hepburn said.
Hepburn also said larger high schools, which have caused significant delays, will be receiving additional metal detectors.
Small delays were seen Tuesday morning at McArthur High School in Hollywood and Western High School in Davie.
Like Dillard High School, McArthur added more metal detectors at the school entrance to speed up the process.
“Check it out they got two metal detectors now here,” said Gray.
Over at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, which is the largest school in the district with 4,700 students, there was a noticeable decrease in the number of students who had to wait in line to pass the detectors.
Hepburn on Tuesday said, “All of our students got in on time, ready for instruction. Even got an opportunity to grab some breakfast.”
7News spoke to several students.
“Yesterday was just chaotic,” said a student.
“Everybody was frustrated,” said a student.
“It’s still long but it’s not as long as other schools,” said a student.
“I don’t want to be here ’cause we just be standing outside,” said a student. “Yesterday it was hot, it was blazing.”
Some improvements were made at Deerfield Beach High School but some students were still not happy.
“It’s still unorganized, everybody bunched up together. It takes a really long time,” said Hiago Teixeira a student.
Students feel the district is doing its job but hope for shorter lines in the near future.
“Especially with what happened at Stoneman Douglas years ago, I feel like it’s definitely worth it but there’s more efficient ways of doing it,” said Andrew a student.
“I like the idea but they really didn’t look at the logistics of it,” said Loudiana LouisJean a student.
At Stranahan High School in Fort Lauderdale, students were frustrated with the delays and new security protocols.
“There was like a line over here, down there [pointing down the street] — I don’t want to be here because we just standing outside,” said a frustrated student. “Yesterday was hot, It was blazing, I was sweating outside.”
“Everybody frustrated, nobody was like patient or nothing they just wanted to get through,” said a student.
“They went through backpack twice, there was nothing in my bag,” said a student. “They pulled out my stapler talking about, ‘What is this?’ It’s a mini stapler, it’s ridiculous, get your stuff together.”
Broward Superintendent Howard Hepburn on Monday addressed the issues caused by the new metal detectors.
“We want to definitely apologize to our public because we know this is a stressful time, it’s a new routine for students,” Hepburn said.
At 38 campuses in Broward County, students must go through those metal detectors, and with a single entry point, that causes delays.
“I like the idea of it but they didn’t really look at the logistics of it,” said a student.
“I just feel like there should be more metal detector stations at each entrance,” said a student.
“If they were going to put metal detectors, they should have put more than one in one place for every single kid in the school,” said a student.
Administrators are urging students to pull out any metal objects from their backpacks before they go through a detector, which is what usually causes the long wait times.
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