NEWTON COUNTY — A weapons detection system pilot is set to be implemented across Newton County’s middle and high schools this upcoming week.

At the Tuesday, Feb. 25 Newton County Board of Education meeting, the board heard from Chief Operations Officer Michael Barr, who updated the room on the progression of the program.

The weapons detection system, which was approved for purchase by the board last December, represents efforts made by Newton County Schools (NCS) to ensure school safety measures.

The system is set to be deployed to all NCS middle and high schools in the coming months. However, it will be implemented on a random rotational basis, so not every school will see its application on Monday.

The pilot program will be used during morning student arrival, allowing trained personnel to scan for weapons while assessing the effectiveness and performance of the system.

After an incident on Aug. 28, 2024 revealed the presence of a firearm inside Sharp Stadium and the deadly events at Apalachee High School 30 miles north of Covington occurred on Sept. 4, safety at schools and school facilities leaped to Newton County’s number one priority.

As a result, a weapons detection system was implemented at Sharp Stadium in November. As of press time, The Covington News could not confirm if the program that NCS is using next week is structured similarly.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Barr was transparent about the number of threats that have occurred in the district in the past months. 

According to Barr’s presentation of data since July 2024, district threats investigated, student arrests and weapons found on NCS campuses all peaked last September. 

In September 2024, the district identified and investigated 57 threats. This is comparable to the previous month, in which only 20 threats were investigated. Most recently, 33 threats were investigated in January 2025.

Similarly, 20 student arrests were made in September 2024. Only two arrests were made in August 2024, and there were 10 arrests made in January.

Seven weapons were found on NCS campuses in September 2024. Like the other statistics, this was the highest number recorded in previous months, with August reporting three weapons found. Zero weapons were found in December and January, and only one was found in November.

District 3 representative Shakila Henderson-Baker said that these statistics serve as evidence that this weapons detection system is something that the district needs.

“With the threats and the actual weapon being recovered at Sharp, there is a need,” Henderson-Baker said. 

The school district held a community forum in September 2024 with the intent of alleviating parents’ fears and hearing local input as to what should be done to ensure the future safety of NCS students.

Implementing metal detectors or weapons detection systems was mentioned at the forum, but the idea was still in its earliest stages. Now, it has become a reality.

In November, the district once more sought community input by sending out a survey regarding future safety measures. Questions on the survey included whether the district should mandate clear backpacks and if weapons detection system implementation was favorable.

According to NCS, 93 percent of the survey’s 3,805 respondents supported using a weapons detection system in the district.

The pilot program will continue through May and end in June. The district plans to present findings in the future at an unspecified date.