Jamestown Public Schools will test a weapons detection system at Friday’s varsity football game. Members of the school board, pictured Tuesday, were informed of the planned roll out for the system.
P-J photo by Eric Tichy
Attendees of Friday’s varsity football game in Jamestown will pass through a weapons detection system currently being piloted by the school district.
Two units by Opengate Technology will be set up at the main gate outside Strider Field for fans to walk through.
Dr. Kevin Whitaker, Jamestown schools superintendent, said the same system currently is used at Chautauqua Institution and was recommended by a safety sub-committee established at Jamestown Public Schools.
“The purpose of this is for us to test our systems to see how they work; if there are any areas that hold things up that create large lines; if there are any other issues we learn about in this relatively low-stakes situation,” Whitaker said during Tuesday’s meeting of the school board.
Two different weapons detection systems have been reviewed by the safety sub-committee, one of which Whitaker described as being “extremely expensive.”
School board members in September heard from Steve Maggio with the safety sub-committee. He said he learned more about the Opengate system by visiting Chautauqua Institution where the units are in use during the busy summer session.
Maggio said it is the same system used by Chautauqua Institution for Jamestown High School’s graduation ceremony held each year at the Amphitheater.
“It was fast to get in; it was fast to get out,” Maggio said in September of the recommended system, which is being rented to Jamestown for $10 to test at Friday’s football game.
“The outcome, as we believe it, would be increased security and a feeling of safety that are present, whether it be students, family, teachers and other staff that is working within the Jamestown Public Schools,” Maggio said last month.
Jamestown’s varsity football team hosts Bennett this Friday at 7 p.m.
Whitaker said the rollout will be to test the system in action and review its capabilities.
“The recommendation of the sub-committee … that studied this was that we should try to, for a low cost, see if we can rent one or two, try them out at sporting events, like football and basketball, see how they function and see if the staffing levels required to staff them are amenable to the number of staff that we have,” Whitaker said.
He added, “So we are going to try it. We are going to pilot it, see how things go, make adjustments, take notes and see if it’s something we can keep doing in the future.”
