A preventative safety measure at a Richland District One school is causing concern for families in the district.
They say school officials invaded their student’s personal belongings.
We sent our Sydni Edwards to get to the bottom of this complaint
The portable device – is designed to find weapons – and keep the school safe.
But one student’s relative reached out to us accusing school officials of inappropriate conduct.
Richland One District officials tell us this metal detector is part of a pilot program to determine its effectiveness for the upcoming school year.
“If they thought they identified contraband in a book bag everything in a book bag was dumped on the floor so it could be searched, regardless of anything," explained a sister to a student at Dreher.
The relative says school officials dumped out phones, tablets, and laptops and made a student remove her bra.
“I do know that she was wearing it when she went through the metal detectors and they made her remove it for some unknown reason," she expressed.
The relative says her brother also told her that other students had their inhalers and EpiPens confiscated
“It’s like when you go through the airport and there’s a chance where you start thinking I’m accidentally bringing like pepper spray or knife on the airplane even if you know there’s no chance," she said.
We reached out to Richland School District One to check out these claims.
The district sent us an email saying according to the security director and principal no laptops, EpiPens, or phones were confiscated at Dreher High.
But they did add, that there were knives and other items that could be used as weapons.
Security also confiscated vapes and prescription medications that students did not have the authorization to have on campus.
“I was really worried about the situation and since most of them aren’t 18 they cannot submit tips to the tip line so I just felt the need to do it myself," the sister expressed.
Richland One District officials say they were not made aware of a student removing an article of clothing but they like several school districts in the Midlands continue to implement safety measures to make sure campuses are secure, as security threats continue to spike in area schools.