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Dear Key Middle School Community,
As part of the ongoing commitment to strengthening layered safety and security programs, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) will continue to phase in a weapons detection system at all secondary schools this fall.
Starting on Friday, November 14th, all students and visitors to Key MS will be required to pass through the Open Gate Weapons Detection System upon entry. Many of you recall the weapons detection system was on display during Back to School Night. Additionally, students were provided with instruction about the process and expectations in their Health and PE classes earlier this week. We provided reminders to students on Wednesday, and students will participate in a trial run tomorrow morning upon arrival. Our hope is this preliminary work was helpful in ensuring a smooth start to this process. While we anticipate some hiccups and delays during the first few days, the Key MS team is working in earnest to ensure that this is an efficient process that causes minimal disruption to our standard daily operations.
Please watch this video of the Superintendent’s conversation with students about the weapons screening system. The most important thing is to be sure that students have the right items removed from their bag before getting in line.
Items to be removed include:
- Three-ring binders
- Laptops
- Collapsible umbrellas
- Metal lunch boxes
- Metal pencil cases
- Metal glasses cases
- Metal water bottles
- Metal personal care items (e.g. eyelash curlers)
These items can remain in a student’s bags:
- Non-metal lunch boxes
- Books
- Planners
- Spiral notebooks and folders
- Cell phones
- Keys
- Non-metal pencil cases
Once the items are removed, students should walk to the shortest line and proceed with their backpack on their front for ease of taking these items out to hand to staff and putting them back in after passing through the machines. If the light turns red, they will be directed to a secondary screening to determine what may have alerted the system. Experience shows that the process becomes easier and more efficient every day. You can learn more about the system by watching this video and reading the Frequently Asked Questions on FCPS’ website. If you have additional questions, you can submit them online to the FCPS Chief of Safety and Security Office.
We appreciate everyone’s cooperation and support in our shared commitment to maintaining a safe learning environment for us all.
Sincerely,
Drew Campbell
Principal | Key Middle School
703-313-3900
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