Students at Hamden High School will now need to put all metal items into a bag or bin and walk through the metal detectors with their bags when they arrive at school in the morning, according to Marcus Pink, the head of security at HHS. This was originally in place when the high school first got metal detectors, 4 years ago.

The metal items students need to take out of their backpacks include “Pringles, umbrellas, chargers, AirPods, laptops, calculators, keys, and binders and notebooks. Anything containing metal, even certain deodorants or perfumes. Musical instruments too,” according to Mrs. Alexander, an English teacher who helps with security.

“These procedures have been in effect since we got the metal detectors, but at some point, things get misconstrued. It has been a gradual change; [students] they just end up handing us their bags,” said Pink of the re-establishment. Principal Eric Jackson’s student advisory group discussed the topic of student arrival, which influenced this decision. “Student arrival came up, finding a more efficient way to get students into school, due to inclement weather, it is an ongoing project.”

The return of this policy is meant to speed up the time it takes for students to get through, according to Pink. “It takes too long if adults have to check and go through the bag, versus you just dumping out your stuff into a bag or a bucket, and we just look at it. If everything is out of the backpack and you walk through, then it shouldn’t be going off. But it takes more time for us, as adults, to take your backpack. To check your backpack and check in between your books and check all the pockets, most backpacks now have one thousand and one pockets. It takes up too much time, and that’s how students end up being late to class.”

In addition to speeding up the process, “There can be dangerous things underneath the books, that are jam-packed in tight,” according to Alexander. Moreover, students can lose things if they separate their metal items when arriving, whereas if they separate their things in advance and use a plastic bag, they won’t. “Kids won’t misplace things; all of their stuff will be in that bag, not in different places,” according to Ms. Forcucci, an assistant principal.

Forcucci said that the administration is budgeting and trying to find the funds to get plastic bags for students. She did not have a time frame for supplying plastic bags, but she said as soon as possible. In the meantime, Alexander recommends “A target bag, clear plastic bag or any kind of loose shopping bag.”

Student reactions are mixed. Junior Freshta Qasimi pointed out both the merits and shortcomings of the change. “I feel like sometimes it is unnecessary because it takes a lot of your time in the morning. However, there are sometimes where the security doesn’t check properly; if you have something dangerous, it would be good.” Junior Henry George thinks that the change will have the opposite of its intended effects. “It’ll probably slow everything down a lot, taking every item out. A lot of other people have track bags with spikes, so taking that stuff out must be annoying and time-consuming. People with instruments, too.”

Pink ended by saying, “[Security’s] job is to make sure the student body is safe, and the adults in the building are safe. We maintain a safe environment, so that’s why we do what we do with the metal detectors.”