Majority of Hoosier Schools Adding Metal Detectors for New School Year

WITZ Radio News is an affiliate of Network Indiana 

INDIANAPOLIS - About four out of five Indiana school districts will be adding metal detectors.

Governor Holcomb announced two weeks ago the state would supply handheld metal detectors to any school which wants them. Schools which have already applied for detectors should have them by mid-August, though the state will continue to accept applications.

Holcomb says the wands aren't the entire solution to school safety, but it's an obvious step to take. He says one of the simplest ways to control what happens in the school building is to control what comes into it.

Holcomb announced two weeks ago the state would supply metal detectors on request. The announcement comes two months after a seventh-grader and a teacher were wounded in a school shooting in Noblesville.

Legislators ordered a multi-agency review of school safety in March at Holcomb's request, in the aftermath of the shooting in Parkland, Florida. That report is due August 1, and Holcomb says he's "champing at the bit" to receive it.

News Director David Shepherd will be asking Jasper School officials about their school security plans for the upcoming school year following tonight’s school board meeting.

We’ll have more on what local schools are doing to ensure students are safe tomorrow on our local news.