One of Oregon’s largest school districts is adding weapons detectors and other security measures across its middle schools.

Last year, Salem-Keizer Public Schools reduced the number of entrances and exits into its high schools, along with installing weapon detection systems. They look similar to what you might walk through at an airport or concert.

District officials said then that they wanted to expand these systems in middle schools during the 2025-26 school year.

“Probably the most disturbing trend that we’ve seen … utilizing the Marion County juvenile data, is that we’ve seen a decline in age in charges where it’s possession of a weapon, which is really kind of a driving factor for us,” said Chris Baldridge, director of safety and risk management services for the district, during a call with reporters on Thursday. “We don’t want weapons in our schools.”

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The estimated cost for the new detectors is about $1.2 million. Baldridge said there will be some other out-of-pocket costs for additional materials, but the rest of the expenses are in-house. These systems are staffed by existing district personnel.

Money designated for safety and security enhancements from the district’s 2018 bond and a 2022 settlement agreement with e-cigarette maker JUUL Labs will pay for the bulk of these costs.

Danielle Neves, the deputy superintendent over secondary instruction in Salem-Keizer, said she supports the weapons detectors — not just as a district administrator, but as a mom of a middle school student.

While her son worries about how to get his band instrument through the system every day without being late for class, Neves feels it’s a sign that the district is taking action to protect her child.

“It gives me another layer … of knowing that the school district is taking care of my students, of the teachers in their building, so that they can focus on learning,” Neves said. “And that’s our job, and that’s what we want to do.”

The district plans to add weapon detectors at all 12 middle school sites throughout the year, rolling them out at a couple of schools at a time.

Baldridge said this will start in late October and ideally wrap up around April.

“It’s just a tremendous amount of work to make that deployment, and it’s not just putting in equipment,” he said. “We have to teach the schools how to operate all the equipment effectively, all the way down into the relationship building and how we want to greet kids at the door.”

Detectors launched with other security measures

Roughly 21,000 middle and high schoolers will go through the detectors every day once they’re in place, as well as visitors who come to the schools when students are there.

Officials said each school will share specific information regarding timelines with staff and families as they get closer to implementation. The systems will likely be set up in middle schools weeks or months before they’re ready to go live.

Oregon’s second-largest school district to put weapons detectors in high schools

Baldridge said he wouldn’t share which schools the district is starting with because that plan could change. But he said the decisions on what added security measures are put into which schools largely depend on the size of the school’s student population.

Stephens and Waldo middle schools, both in Northeast Salem, currently have the highest student populations.

Additional security steps include window films that stop people from seeing into the schools, added alarms on the doors, stricter cellphone restrictions, and more limited entrances and exits. Most, if not all, the middle schools already have the window films and other measures in place, Baldridge said.

Pilot program began in 2024

The district’s stepped-up security effort dates back to a fatal shooting in March 2023 involving South Salem High School students at a park during lunchtime. Salem-Keizer implemented a weapons detector pilot program at the school, which was used to inform the district’s rollout across all high schools last year.

Community members have pushed back against Salem-Keizer’s security changes in recent years. The removal of school resource officers in 2021 was met with resistance from parents concerned that their children wouldn’t be as protected.

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The addition of weapons detectors in 2024 was criticized as an unwelcome increase of policing at school, which could contribute to racial discrimination and disproportionate discipline.

Currently, school and student safety is a top concern nationwide, following multiple school shootings already this year and ongoing fears of racially motivated immigration deportations near schools.

“Our first job is to keep your children safe and to give them a space where they can learn with the adults and students who they are in school with,” Neves said as a message to Salem-Keizer families. “We take that very seriously.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/18/salem-keizer-weapons-detectors-rollout/