DALLAS — Dallas ISD says it will look into the best use of its metal detectors on campuses and implement more training for school staff after a student was able to bring a gun into Kimball High School on Monday.
"I just need to know what they‘re going to do," said Victor Brown, a Kimball parent. "I mean, if you’ve got metal detectors, use them."
Outside of Kimball High School Tuesday evening we found frustrated parents for whom the evening only got worse.
First, because they walked through metal detectors, unlike a 15-year-old student who had a gun in his pocket the day before. That student accidentally shot himself in the leg at the end of first period.
They then received an apology from Dallas ISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa. He said the incident that led to kids sheltering in place and hiding in the gym was due to a system error and human error. It came at the beginning of a pre-planned district meeting at Kimball High School.
"We’re now reviewing exactly what happened after that," he said. "We’re working with law enforcement about what are some of the issues, but we take this matter very seriously."
But it’s what he said about increasing safety that had Kimball parents reeling.
"We will have some changes next year, it’s probably too late to make changes for the current year," Hinojosa said.
"Who’s to know that my child won’t get hurt next week, or a staff member?" said Kimball parent Leslie Hillyard. "They didn’t reassure us.".
In a statement Tuesday, DISD promised further discussion about the best use of metal detectors, and increased training for staff members. Parents say that sounds great, but they don’t want to wait.
"I’m just concerned for the next three to four weeks, how are they going to provide security to keep these kids safe?" asked Kimball parent Jaqueline Wallace. "I'm just asking Jesus to fix it."
News 8 confirmed with the district that while it provides metal detectors to secondary DISD schools, there is no specific guidelines as to when or how those should be used. It's often decided by the principal at the individual campus.
