CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After a historic number of guns were found on Charlotte-Mecklenburg school campuses last school year, the district responded by investing millions of dollars into body scanners.
Six months into the school year, the investment seems to be paying off.
So far this school year, there have been three guns found on school campuses. This number pales in comparison to the 25 that were found at this time last year.
Harding University High School was one of seven schools chosen to pilot the body scanner initiative. Officials said at the time that Harding and the other schools were identified as having a high number of safety incidents in the school year.
WCNC Charlotte spoke to Harding University High School’s principal, Glen Starnes, at the beginning of the school year.
He said his mission was clear---change the culture, one student at a time.
“We have made it through, in. So, we are extremely excited. The culture has truly shifted,” Starnes said.
Coming into this school year, the campus faced a safety issue. In part due to past safety incidents, but also the challenge of having a partially open campus with multiple entry and exit points.
“You know, we say it's no secret whenever you Google a school, Google can tell you a story,” Starnes said.
The story it told about Harding in part was about fights, guns and discipline issues, but as the culture shifted, so did these stats.
So far, no guns have been found on the campus this school year.
“As we think about student discipline, our discipline data is significantly down in comparison to what it has been in the past,” Starnes said.
In addition to body scanners, the school added more cameras. They also have a wristband system to keep track of students who have gone through the body cameras.
“They get a wristband to indicate that they have, in fact, been clear for that day, we change up our colors, to kind of mix some things up,” Starnes said.
Teachers and administrators check the wristbands during class times and in between classes as precautionary measures.
The school leadership made a promise to everyone in August.
“It was the return of the Rams, because we're back, right? We are that place that we want for our kids and our families to enjoy. We want them to feel safe for us not to just say that we're safe school, but to actually feel safe and that's something that we really believe is happening each and every day,” Starnes said.
Shamarria Morrison: Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.