KENOSHA — In April, both the Kenosha Unified School District and Milwaukee Public Schools finished rolling out metal detectors across parts of their districts.
The Kenosha Unified School District approved more than $473,000 earlier this year to install metal detectors and purchase hand wands — moves that come after multiple incidents involving students bringing guns to school.
For months, parents in the Kenosha Unified School District have been raising concerns following those incidents. Their advocacy helped push the district, Wisconsin's third largest, to act.
Elizabeth Gardner, a Kenosha parent, said she supports the change.
"When it comes to our kids, I would rather be safe than sorry," said Gardner.
Watch: Kenosha and Milwaukee Schools add metal detectors, parents voice mixed opinions
Fellow Kenosha parent Sabrina Landry also pushed for the safety measures.
"Every single one of their lives matters. We can't keep stalling and looking at a budget crisis, or looking at our credit score as a district. We can't keep balancing that against the safety of our students," said Landry.
While reporting on this story, TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins learned that Milwaukee Public Schools are adding metal detectors to all middle and high schools. He went to Rufus King High School to meet with the district's Emergency Operations Manager to learn more.
Kevin Hafemann said students will need to remove certain items before going through screening.
"Students will have to take out laptops, iPads, three-ring binders, things of that nature ahead of time. But pretty much anything else they can keep on their person, their backpack," Hafemann said.
Hafemann said with more guns in circulation nationwide, the district feels it is important to stop any of those guns from entering MPS buildings. When asked about community members who feel the screening process is intrusive, especially for children, he pushed back.
"This is just another added layer. I would say it's no different if you go to the theatre, go to the museum, go to the ballgame, as I said before. It's just making sure that people, our students, our staff, our visitors are all safe."
Not everyone is convinced that metal detectors are the right approach. Mathew Mayes, who works with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said he is hesitant about the added surveillance.
"To just put metal detectors into a school isn't a solution. It's just a preventative measure that isn't 100 percent."
Mayes said the hundreds of thousands of dollars being invested in metal detectors could be directed toward addressing the root causes of school violence.
"It could be spent on textbooks, technology, updating mental health care, other forms of support," Mayes said. "It's better to address the root cause, which is systemic and chronic poverty."
Despite differing views on the approach, both parents and district leaders say it is better to be safe than sorry.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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