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Following a handful of high-profile incidents involving weapons on school campuses, Houston ISD has started using a new type of security system at its schools — one familiar to anyone who’s attended a major sporting event.
Beginning this semester, HISD began rolling out OpenGate, a weapons detection system that involves students walking through two large poles, at high schools across the district. Unlike a traditional handheld metal detector, there’s no wand or staffer waving it over people.
HISD Police Chief Shamara Garner and Chief of Organizational Effectiveness Kari Feinberg say the systems offer a new layer of protection for students.
Between August 2023 and May 2024, HISD arrested 14 juveniles for violating laws about weapons, including the possession of a handgun or the unlawful use of weapons, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Uniform Crime Reporting System. HISD staff also found weapons this school year at Bellaire and Lamar high schools.
Garner, who took over HISD’s police department in August 2023, collaborates with teams run by Fienberg, who joined the district 18 months ago, to deploy and implement the new weapons security systems and safety plans.
The Houston Landing spoke to Garner and Feinberg about the new initiative and what families should know about crime safety in the district.
The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
I know there have been a couple publicized incidents where weapons have been found on campus this year, prompting this change of adding the security systems. Are incidents related to weapons rising in HISD? Can you also explain why HISD took this step to add in weapon security systems?
Garner: As you stated, there have been weapons discovered on our campus. I would not say that it’s rising. Actually the fact that when weapons are detected, I think it speaks well to our safety systems that are already in place, particularly the relationships that students have with staff and law enforcement to make it known when they are aware that a weapon may be on campus, or “see something, say something.” That’s evidence of it working.
In terms of why, based upon internal data and as well as national research and trends, we do believe that now is the time to add another layer of protection by implementing the weapon detection systems. And really, truly, that’s what it is, another layer of protection to our safety protocols that are already in place.
Can you describe the district’s approach to adding weapons detection systems in schools and what the rollout will look like in terms of which schools will get upgrades when?
Garner: Well, they’ll be deployed in all of our high schools, and the deployment will happen — we’re saying weekly, but obviously that depends on various issues that may come up in terms of availability of training and what have you. But again, all high schools will have the systems. Our goal is to make sure that all are deployed by summer, and there is a schedule in reference to when deployment will occur at which campus. I personally prefer not to speak on that, because this issue does fall upon our safety and security, but again, all of them will have the systems by summer. That is our goal.
Feinberg: As Chief Garner said, our big goal is to ensure that all high schools and HISD have implemented the weapons detection system by the end of the spring semester 2025. One of the things that we’re really committed to is making sure that this is done well at each campus in a way that is both efficient and safe in terms of student entry, visitor entry and those types of screenings.
And so we do have a plan right now that will allow us to implement at every school by the end of the spring semester, and we may tweak that plan in terms of how quickly we’re implementing it in school. Or if we need to slow it down in order to make sure we’re learning from what’s working well and what we might want to do differently as we implement in the first couple schools, so that we’re getting it right at every campus and ensuring that students are able to enter in an efficient way and that they’re not using losing instructional time in the morning through a slowed down entry process.
Going off of that, some may be wary that these could take longer and have students waiting before their first class. How time-effective are these weapon systems given that each high school has thousands of students coming each day?
Feinberg: We’ve been really strategic in our planning for implementation at every campus. And what that means is we’re using the student population or the student enrollment numbers to help us figure out how many systems will be available at each campus. So if a campus has more students, maybe you are a campus of 3,000, there would be more towers or lanes that students could enter through in the morning. And so more towers, more lanes, that’s going to lead to a more efficient process for a campus that is bigger than a smaller campus. We do have some campuses that may only have 300, 400 or 500 students, they would have less towers, but we would still be confident that we would be able to get those students through in an efficient manner with less towers.
So it’s not necessarily one-size-fits-all in terms of the way in which we’re implementing at every campus, we’ve done a lot of pre-planning and working with division leaders and campus leaders to make sure that we’re not only putting the right infrastructure in place to make this process run effectively, we’re also staffing it appropriately as well, so a larger school would have more staff on hand to help with the process in the morning than a smaller school would. And it’s through just that pre-planning, and then also learning as we go and making improvements along the way, that lead us to be confident that we’re going to be able to do this in a safe and efficient way that’s going to add that extra layer of security for staff.
What exactly does a weapons detection system refer to – is it a metal detector, security guards scanning kids, or something else?
Garner: So the weapon detection systems that we’re implementing are tower bases, where you walk through. There’s no need to remove a bag or laptop bag or a backpack. Students will be asked to take their laptops out and that be handed to an administrator as they walk through. But they will not be manned by security guards or law enforcement. They will be manned by administrators. Law enforcement will get involved if a weapon is deemed to be present or thought to be present.
How does this new system differ from previous methods used, such as a traditional metal detector, wand or bag checks?
Garner: It comes with a warning capability. If an alert occurs that a person could be (carrying) one, it falls pretty much under the same umbrella as it pertains to, you know, again, weapon detection being another layer of security for our campuses to make sure that our students and our staff and visitors remain safe.
What is the total cost and how is the district paying for it?
Garner: The district was awarded a grant, a safety and facility enhancement grant, and the spending for the systems is a little over $1.9 million. Again, all covered by a grant.
Can parents expect the weapons security system to be implemented districtwide?
Garner: Based on the size of HISD, obviously it’s very costly to have a weapon detection system at all of our campus. That’s why we’re being strategic. Starting with high school, the goal is to eventually expand it to middle schools and elementary schools. However, in the meantime, the systems that we already have in place, we already have officers assigned to high schools, officers assigned to middle school. We have armed guards being added to our elementary campuses, in addition to our visitor management procedures and the other things that we have in place to make sure that our younger student population remains safe.
Angelica Perez is a general assignment reporter for the Landing. Find her @byangelicaperez on Instagram and X, or reach her directly at angelica@houstonlanding.org.