JEFFERSON TWP — Nine metal detectors have been keeping students safe for a week in the South Butler County School District, and administrators are making adjustments to increase the efficiency of the project.

Superintendent David Foley said Friday that two portable detectors are in place at the front entrances to Knoch High School and Knoch Middle School, where students disembark from their buses, and another is set up at the high school entrance that faces Knoch Road.

Metal detectors at the intermediate and primary schools are used only for adults entering the buildings after the school day begins.

“We are focusing on the middle school and high school at this point,” Foley said.

Foley said he will recommend at Wednesday's school board meeting that two more detectors be purchased and placed in the captured entrances at the high school and middle school for adults entering the building after the school day starts and students arriving late.

He said during arrival time, a student approaching the detector removes all metal objects from his or her backpack and places them in a tray.

The tray is checked by one of six staff members from the primary or intermediate school who are able to man the detectors because their schools open an hour later than the high school and middle school.

The student then walks through the metal detector wearing his backpack. If he sets off the detector, he goes through again. He is wanded by school police if he sets off the detector a second time.

“The kids have done a really nice job getting their (metal) belongings out of their backpacks,” Foley said.

But because the schools do not have large lobbies, administrators and school police are considering different ways to bring students in.

“It has created some congestion there in each entryway,” Foley said.

Still, Foley said the schools were able to get 769 high school students and 530 middle school students into the building by 7:34 a.m.

First period begins at 7:52 a.m., and buses come in beginning at 7:05 a.m., he said.

“In 25 minutes, we were getting about 1,300 students into the secondary buildings, and we think we can get much more efficient,” Foley said. “We're pleased that students are starting to get the hang of how it works.”

Regarding feedback, some parents have shared concerns about students waiting on sidewalks until it is their turn to access the metal detector.

“We've tightened that down a lot,” Foley said.

Students' reactions have been predictable.

“I don't know if the students are overly excited or pleased, but they've been cooperative,” Foley said. “We have great students here at South Butler.”

He said nothing concerning was found during the program's first week in practice.

South Butler was the last school district in the county to get metal detectors.

Parents began clamoring for detectors in January after a video surfaced on Snapchat that showed Knoch High student Jason Bowen, then age 18, firing an AK-style weapon with the caption “Training for prom walk.”

Charges of risking a catastrophe, terroristic threats, possession of a prohibited offensive weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia were dropped in July.

Bowen pleaded guilty to a count of terroristic threats and was sentenced to time served in the Butler County Prison and two years' probation.

Part of Bowen's plea deal requires him to stay off all social media during his government supervision.

Additionally, he is not permitted on South Butler County School District grounds and was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Tamara Finucan, who had six children in the district in the last school year, told the school board in January that almost 1,400 people had signed the online petition to get metal detectors in the schools.