ILLINOIS SCHOOLS USE DETECTORS

CAIRO, Ill. -- School violence has drawn close attention lately.

As many as 70 percent of schools polled during a recent national survey use school patrols provided by city police. Up to 20 percent of the schools -- large and small -- use metal detectors.

"We know that a number of Illinois schools use metal detectors," said Frank Llano of the Illinois State Board of Education in Springfield. "And we see full-time security guards in some metropolitan areas."

School violence in urban schools has made metal detectors and armed guards commonplace. There have been some instances of problems in smaller towns, said Llano.

The state board does not keep a count of schools that use detectors and, or security patrols. Neither does the Illinois State High School Association at Bloomington.

"These situations are handled on a district-by-district basis," said Llano.

The regional superintendent of schools office at Ullin has no record of schools with metal detectors but may have in the near future.

"We're preparing to conduct a survey concerning this issue," said a spokesman for the regional office, which includes five counties, 19 school districts and 12 high schools in its area. Counties in the district are Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Union and Johnson.

Cairo public schools are the latest to install a metal detector.

"It's a preventative thing," said Elaine Bonifield, superintendent of Cairo schools, which is the first in the immediate Southern Illinois area to use a stationary detector.

"This is not in response to a problem," said Bonifield. "There is an increase of violence on the streets. We just want to make sure that some street arguments are not brought into the schools."

Bonifield emphasized that no weapons had been reported in the schools."We want to make sure it doesn't happen," she said.

The students, said Bonifield, are accepting the system. They feel secure and are pleased with it. "They're relieved," she said.

Cairo, like many other Illinois high schools, also uses camera surveillance.

"Most schools use cameras," said Bonifield. "We want to know who is coming and going in our school building. This way we have a video recording of everyone who has entered and left our building."

Although a number of schools uses metal detectors, Cairo is the first in Southern Illinois.

A check with a number of schools in Southern Illinois revealed only one other district uses detectors, and it on a partial basis.

"We don't have stationary detectors," said Mitch Haskins, an administrator at Meridian High School near Mounds in Pulaski County.

"But we do scan sports fans at some athletic events, basketball in particular," said Haskins, who is dean of students and director of student activities at Meridian. Police officers use hand-held detectors to scan fans when they purchase tickets.

This, too, is a preventative measure, said Haskins. "We want our students and fans to know we're trying to maintain a good environment," he said.

Another Alexander County school, Egyptian, between Olive Branch and Tamms, doesn't foresee the use of metal detectors.

"They can serve as a deterrent and make students feel more secure," said Bill Hatfield, a principal at the school. "But at the present we're not looking at them."

The report was the same from Murphysboro in Jackson County and Anna-Jonesboro High School in Union County.

Large metropolitan schools, however, have reported noticeable increases in school violence over the past year. This was revealed in the recent survey conducted by the National League of Citizens.

The survey revealed serious injuries and even deaths in 41 percent of the 700 big-city schools that responded to the survey. The percentage drops to about 25 percent when percentages of smaller communities are included in the totals.

Only 17 percent of those involved in the survey said violence had gone down over the past five years or was not a problem.

The high percentages of increases were in cities of 100,000 population and more. Some 32 percent of schools in cities of 50,000 to 100,000 reported an increase, and 19 percent reported increases for cities of fewer than 50,000 population.