Updated security measures placed at Brockton High following gun incident

Students at Brockton High School will be under stricter security and safety measures starting this week, the school announced on Sunday evening. The new measures come following an incident where a student brought a gun to school earlier in the month and the school was in lockdown for approximately 90 minutes. 

The plan was worked out with the help of Superintendent Mike Thomas and Brockton School Police over the weekend. 

“It pains me that these new measures are necessary, however after consulting staff, students and families we feel that this is what is needed to make our community feel safe,” wrote Cynthia Burns, the high school’s principal, in the announcement. 

Students will continue to have to enter through their designated building but will now walk through metal detectors. Items that violate the student handbook will get confiscated, according to the announcement. Prior to this weekend, students were required to pass through checkpoints and were scanned with hand-held metal detectors.

The plan suggests that students take off any metal items prior to entering the detectors in order to speed up the process.

When the first measures were implemented, Thomas wrote that delays would be expected for students to enter as there were as many as 4,000 students passing through the checkpoints. 

Visitors and guests of the school must also pass through the metal detectors, which are located at the main entrance for the administration building. 

Students will also only be allowed to bring bags to school that are equivalent or smaller than the size of BPS laptops. Backpacks and duffle bags will not be permitted in the building, and all bags are subject to search by the school, according to the announcement. 

Those who need to bring a sports bag must drop it off at the gymnasium, and larger instruments must be dropped off at the Fine Arts Building and will be stored for the day. 

The school will hold a meeting later in the week in which parents and guardians will be able to provide input into the plan, Burns wrote in the announcement. Meeting details will be announced Monday afternoon.

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