PENDER COUNTY — Pender County Schools is starting the 2024-2025 school year by introducing proactive safety measures across its campuses and sporting events, while also breaking ground on a new K-8 school.
READ MORE: Free meals offered in 15 Pender schools starting this year
This week Pender County announced metal detectors will be introduced at its varsity high school football and basketball games to enhance safety at major school events. It’s first football game of the season is Friday night.
On game days, walk-through metal detectors fixed on wheels will be positioned at the entrances of gymnasiums and stadiums at the district’s five high school campuses, operated by staff with support from the Pender County Sheriff’s Department.
“Our athletic directors have worked with school administration to develop a plan to facilitate smooth entry to our events that will minimize delays,” Bob Fankboner, a representative for the district, wrote in an email to Port City Daily Wednesday.
The district received $200,000 from the School Safety grant in January of this year to cover the costs. Each walk-through unit is estimated to be $5,200 and includes the detectors, caster wheels for mobility, rechargeable batteries, and manual scanning wands. Hhigh schools will be equipped with three units each, bringing the total expense to $78,000.
There are no plans to extend the use of the metal detectors beyond events, according to Fankboner, nor policy changes regarding the types of bags spectators are allowed to bring. However, the district encourages spectators to use small or clear bags, though this is not mandatory.
He also emphasized no increases in violence prompted the use of the detectors. The school did not experience any incidents at games during the last school year.
The efforts support a broader state initiative aimed at making schools safe environments for learning and community engagement, according to a press release from the district
The initiatives are a part of a larger effort by the state’s Department of Public Instruction’s Center for Safer Schools. The center allocated a $35 million grant to 230 North Carolina school districts and charter schools to purchase safety equipment and implement training and services aimed at enhancing safety. While the grant included options for items such as vape detectors and radios, Fankboner noted the county will not be receiving these specific items.
In addition to the detectors it will also get 10 more automated external defibrillators (AEDs), already placed at every campus. These new AEDs will be installed at the district’s larger campuses and used to replace any existing AEDs as needed.
The district also be use money from the grant to add new security cameras. The new cameras are designated for Cape Fear Middle School and Pender Innovative Learning Academy in Rocky Point. According to Fankboner, these upgrades are intended to enhance existing security coverage at the two schools and replace older cameras to improve image clarity.
Additional Stop the Bleed kits — a specialized first aid kit for severe injuries and heavy bleeding — also are to be purchased and distributed across all campuses, with the remainder of the funds to cover motorized evacuation chairs. Designed to assist with crisis evacuations, particularly for individuals with mobility impairments, they will be placed in the district’s multi-story schools: Heide Trask High School, Topsail High School, and Penderlea School.
Fankboner highlighted earlier this year, the district installed new floodlights at Topsail and Pender High School stadiums to improve visibility and reduce dark areas. However, this enhancement was not funded by the state grant.
At the school board’s March 19 meeting board member Phill Cordeiro asked the staff to make sure, going forward, the metal detectors and other grant-funded items that may require upkeep are added to the district’s capital improvement plan.
“Although it may be a grant now, it will cost money to replace these things,” he said, “ and I assume that will come from local funds or whatever the case is, so I just want to make sure it is in the capital improvement plan.”
The AEDs are priced at $1,440 each, totaling $14,400 for the purchase. The cameras cost $5,870. No additional contractors are needed for these upgrades.
New K-8 school groundbreaking
As well earlier in the week, the district hosted a groundbreaking of a new K-8 school, a project that has been in development since August of last year.
Funded by a referendum school bond in 2022, the school is being built to help with overcapacity across the district, due to the growing population in the district, which has increased by 120 students over the past year. It reaced a total of 11,077 for the 2023-2024 school year.
As of last January, the district reported facilities were operating at 90% capacity.
“The expanded capacity of this new K-8 school will ensure that our students have access to the resources and space they need to thrive academically and socially.,” Superintendent Brad Breedlove said in statement released Wednesday.
The new school will be situated on 145 acres near Highway 210 in Hampstead, the land was acquired by the district for $6 million in August 2023. Initial design was approved by the board in October of the same year; however, significant changes were made and received board approval in May 2024.
The revised plans now include an additional 4,000 square feet, adding a second story in the middle school wing, which will bring 14 more classrooms than the previous design — accommodating up to 2,312 students.
Superintendent Brad Breedlove, school board Chair Don Hall, and county Commissioner Brad George were all present at the groundbreaking on August 21.
“Today’s groundbreaking is a testament to our district’s commitment to providing exceptional educational facilities that meet the evolving needs of our community,” Breedlove added..
According to the announcement, Bordeaux Construction, selected as the contractor in October, has confirmed the design includes considerations for increased capacity and traffic flow to ensure smooth operation when the school opens.
The school is scheduled to open its doors to students in the fall of 2027.
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