Weapon detectors will be put in JCPS schools over the next several weeks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - On Wednesday police were called to three JCPS schools after reports of an active aggressor.

It all turned out to be a hoax, but parents and students were fearing the worst. Now the topic of school safety is top of mind.

Police reacted quickly to the reports, and made sure all three schools were clear of any threats.

Although it was all fake, it got us wondering how JCPS is doing in the promised installation of weapons detectors in schools.

Last May, the JCPS school board voted to install weapons detectors in the schools that needed them the most.

Now in November, only one school has them, but the district says more will be coming soon.

Brad Watson has been a part of the school safety conversation since a gun fell out of a student’s backpack during a scuffle at Eastern High School last year.

This all happened near his daughter.

“That, really as a dad, got me motivated to try to push this across the finish line,” Watson said.

The recent incidents involving Eastern and their students have only made him more concerned.

“The dangers have not really gotten any less. Earlier this year, there was a fight at Eastern and a girl had what looked like a Rambo knife,” he said.

Watson attended school board meetings and rallied parents together to volunteer to help out at the school in any way they were needed.

He was happy when the board voted to install weapons detectors in the schools. Happy enough to fist pump during one of the meetings.

However, he wishes they could come a little quicker.

“The risks have not diminished any,” Watson said. “And yet we’re still here and we really haven’t gotten anything solved other than the fact that they voted on doing something.”

JCPS has said since the beginning that the detectors would be installed during the fall.

At the end of September, the district said the detectors would be in schools in October.

We’re now in November, and so far only Ballard High School is using them.

The district said there will be staggered rollouts throughout the next several weeks.

“JCPS just seems to be moving from one chaotic bungle to the next,” Watson said. “And they need to get some wins on the board.”

Watson thinks once the detectors are in schools, it’ll be the start of one of those wins.

The original plan had half the high schools getting the detectors this fall and the other half in the spring.

Then all middle schools would get them in the fall of 2024.

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