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CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – On February 6, the Silver Spring Township Police Department says it found a loaded handgun in a 15-year-old’s backpack at Eagle View Middle School. Parents expressed their safety concerns to the school board at Tuesday night’s meeting at the district’s office.
“That day my daughter asked me, ‘is it safe for me to go back to school,’ she is in 5th grade,” said one parent during a public comment.
“Both of my high school students…they stayed home the following day because they were terrified,” said a parent.
That same day, a parent started a petition asking the school to install metal detectors and bag scanners at all schools in the Cumberland Valley School District.
“We strongly believe that scanning bags while entering school would keep such incidents at bay,” said a parent.
“I know my kids that go to Cumberland Valley have expressed that they would feel safe if there were metal detectors,” said another parent.
However, not every parent was on board with the idea of adding metal detectors.
“I have a child that wears medical devices, she will set off a metal detector every day that she walks into that high school, she will have to be pulled aside and wanded or lift her shirt to prove that it really is her insulin pump,” said a parent.
In a note to parents on February 14, Superintendent Mark Blanchard wrote that since the incident the board has reviewed and considered many proposals. One of them being metal detectors.
Blanchard says due to the cost alone plus staffing them, they are not considering that option at this time. But says the school board continues to review policy and is currently in the process of acquiring a police dog specially trained in weapons detection. Blanchard says the incident continues as an active investigation.
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