--- title: School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector description: School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector canonical: https://time.com/branded-content/apg/school-security-needs-a-closer-look-at-what-happens-beyond-the-metal-detector/ article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-10-23T14:41:44.469Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-23T12:19:37.345Z article:section: Branded Contributor Content og:title: School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector og:description: School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector og:url: https://time.com/branded-content/apg/school-security-needs-a-closer-look-at-what-happens-beyond-the-metal-detector/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt861e08e7946af067/6adb4fc09dd21641f98779be/Enhanced_portrait_of_a_man_in_glasses.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1254 og:image:height: 705 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector twitter:description: School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt861e08e7946af067/6adb4fc09dd21641f98779be/Enhanced_portrait_of_a_man_in_glasses.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=d420086d-8d56-4f97-b9e7-6a694a8ee3ae&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=d420086d-8d56-4f97-b9e7-6a694a8ee3ae&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1)  Chris Ciabarra, Co-Founder & CTO of Athena Security Chris Ciabarra, Co-Founder & CTO of Athena Security (Image credit: Athena Security) A school’s entrance can look secure without showing parents how its safeguards work. Cameras, controlled doors, and screening equipment may offer visible deterrence, but each often serves a different purpose. A July 2024 report from the[ National Center for Education Statistics](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a19/school) found that 97% of public schools controlled building access in 2021–22, while approximately 2% conducted daily metal detector checks on students. Those figures show practices, rather than establish how effectively they protect children.[ ](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a19/school?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) The distinction matters when families consider what additional screening might accomplish. The same [federal report](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a19/school) found that daily metal detector checks were more common in middle and high schools than in elementary schools. Screening arrangements differ across educational settings, making it important to understand the purpose and procedures behind a particular school’s choices.[ ](https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=334%5C&utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) Federal guidance offers a broader framework for that discussion. The[ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency](https://www.cisa.gov/hometown-security) recommends assessing vulnerabilities and planning layered physical security. Its approach considers how different safeguards work together across a campus, helping schools evaluate protection beyond an individual device at the entrance.[ ](https://www.cisa.gov/hometown-security?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) T[he New York City Police Department and the New York City Department of Education](https://pwsblobprd.schools.nyc/prd-pws/docs/default-source/default-document-library/scanning-protocols-in-nyc-doe-schools-english.pdf?sfvrsn=cfef48d6%5F6&utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) also highlight steps, including walk-through metal detection systems, X-ray machines, and handheld detectors, as well as testing and documentation, as necessary deterrents to help with security. For parents, that framework provides a useful starting point. Questions about equipment can sit alongside questions about staffing, entry procedures, and responses to concerns. A discussion grounded in these connected responsibilities may reveal more about a school’s preparedness than a list of its security purchases.[ ](https://www.cisa.gov/hometown-security?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) Chris Ciabarra, co-founder and chief technology officer of [Athena Security](https://www.athena-security.com/), which develops security screening technology, believes that connection deserves closer attention. He encourages schools to examine how students and their belongings move through screening together. In his view, installing a walk-through detector should begin a discussion about procedures, including what happens to bags and how staff resolve an alert. Arrival periods illustrate the challenge he sees. Ciabarra gives the example of approximately 1,600 students entering within an hour, an operational scenario rather than a national benchmark. He acknowledges the pressure to keep students moving, while arguing that speed should be evaluated alongside the completeness of screening. Otherwise, he cautions, procedures intended to ease congestion could leave belongings insufficiently checked. Bag inspection is central to his proposed approach. Ciabarra advocates evaluating [X-ray baggage screening](https://www.athena-security.com/baggage-xray-scanner/) alongside walk-through detection to give staff additional information about what students carry. His recommendation focuses on potential gaps when belongings bypass inspection. For parents considering that proposal, the practical question is how the school would assess its usefulness, staff it appropriately, and incorporate it into existing routines. He also sees a supporting role for artificial intelligence in reviewing X-ray images. Ciabarra believes software could help operators identify items needing closer attention, including vaping devices. That is a proposed benefit requiring evaluation in the intended setting. His emphasis on testing suggests a practical standard for adoption, with schools examining demonstrated capabilities and limitations before relying on a system. Testing, in his view, should continue after installation. “You want to test both systems, the walk-through and the X-ray, to make sure they’re operating correctly,” Ciabarra says. He recommends checks before the school day begins, including whether walk-through equipment performs across the areas students pass through. For him, routine verification belongs within the daily work of running a checkpoint. Keeping a record of those checks is equally important to Ciabarra. “Not only do you have to test it, but you also have to document it,” he says. He explains that documentation gives school leaders a way to review what was tested, what the results showed, and whether any issues remain unresolved. In his view, consistent testing and recordkeeping could help schools follow through on necessary corrections. The less reassuring outcome, Ciabarra cautions, is a school community placing confidence in equipment while remaining unclear about its operation. If belongings bypass inspection or checks go undocumented, he believes leaders may have less information about weaknesses requiring attention. His concern is the gap between installing a safeguard and managing it consistently. A more constructive outcome, in his view, would bring equipment, trained staff, testing, and follow-through into a coordinated routine. Parents can turn that principle into questions for school leaders about how bags are handled, how alerts are resolved, and how performance is checked. Ciabarra’s perspective suggests that reassurance should grow from a process families can understand, and schools can explain. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/apg/school-security-needs-a-closer-look-at-what-happens-beyond-the-metal-detector/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/apg/school-security-needs-a-closer-look-at-what-happens-beyond-the-metal-detector/"},"headline":"School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector","datePublished":"2026-10-23T14:41:44.469Z","dateModified":"2026-10-23T12:19:37.345Z","description":"School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/apg/school-security-needs-a-closer-look-at-what-happens-beyond-the-metal-detector/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"Branded Contributor Content","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/apg/school-security-needs-a-closer-look-at-what-happens-beyond-the-metal-detector/","name":"School Security Needs a Closer Look at What Happens Beyond the Metal Detector"}}]}] ```