Little Rock School District steps up security measures with state-of-the-art metal detectors

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock School District school board voted unanimously in November to add metal detectors to all high schools and middle schools in the district.

All high school schools in the district have been equipped with the detection systems and Hall STEAM Magnet High School began using theirs Wednesday.

"It gets people through a lot quicker than what a normal medal detector would," Safety and Security Director Ron Self said.

Self said the state-of-the-art system allows common objects like keys and cell phones to go undetected and cuts out the time restraints of older systems.

"With the other systems, you have to take everything out of your pocket and constantly go through the machines which takes a lot longer," Self said. “So if you can imagine, some of our schools with over 2,000 students and the time it takes to get those students through there. We can get them all through and still have class on time.”

Self said the addition is another way the LRSD is beefing up its safety measures to prevent harm to students and st...