ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown’s high schools have seen a huge decrease in weapons-related incidents in recent years, a trend officials attribute to the district’s “multi-tiered” approach to safety, which includes systems that scan for guns and knives and a focus on students’ mental health.
Administration chiefs and security officers led a presentation Thursday at South Mountain Middle School on the district’s new safety protocols and its weapons detectors as the Allentown School Board weighs putting those machines in middle schools.
The district recorded more than 500 weapons-related incidents across its three high schools and four middle schools during the 2022-23 school year.
“What we’re doing is truly working."Arcelius Brickhouse, executive director of instructional leadership, on the district's new safety approach
That number dropped to 60 last school year, and just four weapons-related incidents have been logged during the first few months of the 2024-25 school year, according to statistics presented Thursday.
“What we’re doing is truly working,” Arcelius Brickhouse, an executive director of instructional leadership, said as he showed the data to about 100 people in the South Mountain’s auditorium
Barry Rodenbough, assistant director of security, said the detectors — in combination with security staff, cameras and the district’s focus on students’ mental health — have been strong deterrents.
“They’re not challenging our technology,” he said. “They’re not trying to bring anything in.”
Superintendent Carol Birks now wants to put the detectors in middle schools, given their success at high schools.
More than half the 524 weapons-related incidents at Allentown schools in 2022-23 were recorded at middle schools, according to the district’s data.
A districtwide survey showed the majority of the 2,900 people who responded — 85% of whom were students — support installing the weapons detectors in middle schools, according to Tiffany Polek, also an executive director of instructional leadership.
And 56% of respondents believe the detectors would not be disruptive to the schools’ mission to educate students, she said.
The district is still seeking feedback through that survey, which can be found here.
Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Ramos told LehighValleyNews.com that the district is working to finalize its plans and will not rush to install weapons detectors at middle schools.
District officials will communicate openly with students and parents about that timeline as it is worked out, Ramos said.
The Allentown School Board must approve the expansion of the district’s weapons-detector program before they are installed in middle schools. That vote has not yet been scheduled.
