Weapon scanners are now permanent at Annandale HS
By Shane Gomez
Passing through a weapon detection scanner is now a permanent procedure for students arriving at Annandale High School.
The scanners were set up at Annandale to help staff prepare for the start of the 2025-26 school year, when weapon detection scanners will be implemented in all high schools, according to a May 29 email to staff from Annandale Principal Shawn DeRose.
Fairfax County Public Schools launched a pilot program for weapon detectors this spring, which included a one-day test run at Annandale’s main entrance on May 15. Since May 30, the scanners have been added at doors 7 and 10.
Related story: FCPS launches weapon detection pilot
The scanners, free-standing towers, are operated by staff members and set aside when the school day begins.
Before students enter, they must remove from their backpacks any items that could set off a false alarm, such as laptops, three-ring binders, collapsible umbrellas, metal lunch boxes, metal pencil cases, and metal glasses cases. If an alarm sounds, the student must pass a secondary screening.
“We appreciate everyone’s cooperation and support in our shared commitment to maintaining a safe learning environment for us all,” DeRose wrote in a May 29 email to families announcing the permanent weapons detection program.
In April, FCPS announced it would randomly select high schools for a weapon detection system pilot. The move came after two students at Edison High School were charged with bringing a gun on school property on Feb. 20 and two teenagers were charged a week later with brandishing a gun at Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School.
Weapon detection scanners at some of the other pilot schools, including Edison High School and West Potomac High School, where a student was stabbed on April 23, have also become permanent.
Students at Annandale High School have complained about long lines at entrances every morning, resulting in some students being marked as tardy.
“It’s a bit of a struggle because it does make me late sometimes due to having to take items out of my bag, which is very annoying,” said 11th-grader Alex Gardner. She leaves home earlier now so she can make it to class on time.
“We expect the process to get easier every day,” DeRose wrote in his email to families.
The OpenGate scanners, from the company CEIA, are more sensitive than traditional metal detectors, which makes them better at identifying weapons rather than metal in general, according to a FAQ page from FCPS. They use low-frequency electromagnetic fields instead of traditional X-ray systems that rely on ionizing radiation.
According to FCPS, “the screening process is completely safe for all individuals, including children, pregnant women, and those with pacemakers or other medical devices.”
Shane Gomez is Annandale Today’s intern. A graduate of Annandale High School, Shane is a student at The New School in New York City.
5 responses to “Weapon scanners are now permanent at Annandale HS”
Leave a Reply to James Deeter Cancel reply
At this point I would take my child out of public education. This is embarrassing and dehumanizing, a student shouldn’t have to do this in order to receive basic education. Annandale has gone down the drain.
As a former principal at AHS the safety & security of our students, faculty & staff was always my highest priority. However, it’s a sad commentary on our society today when students in FCPS have to be scanned for weapons when entering school on a daily basis. But, it is what it is and “a pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure.”
John Ponton
AHS Princpal (2005-11)
You were one of the best!!
I repeat – Fairfax schools and Fairfax County in general are now a third-world shit hole -thank you Democrats. But hey – the Democrats running for Gov, Lt. Gov and Congress all vow to stop Trump and fight for democracy! LMAO.
These weapons detectors scanners were designed for places such as government buildings, airports, and other buildings where the process is able to be controlled specifically at both entrances/exits. They will not work to keep out an external threat at all. As far as the internal threat which are the students it will not keep out a lone wolf or a student that is intent on being a school shooter! That student/school shooter could circumvent this process a multitude of ways. They could just come in the front parking lot and start shooting at the students in lines, they could come in the school and shoot then, they could just not come in any of the entrances that have the detectors or they could just place there weapon outside the school near another exit and then go get it anytime during the day. They would simply just prop the door open and then come in and the only way to stop them or at least mitigate the amount of students maimed or killed would be with an armed officer/SRO. These detectors are not as effective as school security personnel, locked entrance/exit doors, exterior cameras which are continually monitored throughout the school day(without enough personnel is not happening), and with an armed law enforcement officer/SRO or trained/armed security. One of the most important factors that is often overlooked is that the See Something Say Something message that should be emphasized over and over to students. This critical intelligence piece is very important and the way to make this more effective is for staff to communicate effectively with our students in positive manners. This relationship is often the reason that students report these things to staff so that we can be proactive as opposed to reactive when it comes to possible situations of a student threatening violence or possibly having a weapon in schools. The millions of dollars the county spent on these weapons detectors could have been better spent on more personnel, cameras, student training/awareness, drills, and ensuring an SRO or trained armed officer is in every school. This armed officer will be the last lone of defense in the event of an active shooter until other law enforcement arrive. The major difference between a school and all these other places where these weapons detectors are is that not only is there are minimal entrances/exits but, they are controlled in all areas! For instance try getting into an airport for your flight without going through this process, or a federal or other government building, a sports stadium event such as Jiffy Lube or interior forum. All have one or a few entrances and the exits are all secured, locked or controlled access with security personnel. Many schools especially high schools in the county have at least 15+ exterior doors which are secured/closed however, they can be breached at anytime as they cannot all be monitored the entire school day except maybe with a camera and are not alarmed. However, even with a camera that is being monitored it will not stop a lone wolf bad actor from getting into the school to do harm to others. Anyone who knows anything about real security should understand that school security is different then the security of work places, government buildings, sports stadiums/forums, airports, and other places that are not deemed to be soft targets. For example, a mall would also be an impossible place to protect and secure even with weapons detectors unless at every door. Even with the best security apparatus a place can and has been breached by a bad person with the intent on doing harm to others which sadly is the world we live in.