The schools - Rainier Beach High School and Nathan Hale High School - will be the first to launch their pilot programs in the district. Both schools initially reached out to the district to communicate their interest in a pilot, according to Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner.
“The two schools that asked for the pilot, they’re gonna kinda build around what they think success looks like,” Shuldiner said before the vote. “But it is again our hope in the next couple months to really get it up and running.”
The pilot programs won’t be the first time the district has used weapons detectors - they’ve been used at graduation ceremonies and school sporting events.
Shuldiner narrated over a video of community members walking through the OPENGATE weapons detectors the district has used at those events. The system uses two freestanding pillars, and are similar to the weapons detectors you might see at outside a professional sports game.
“It can really go through hundreds and hundreds of folks very quickly,” Shuldiner said.
The board-approved resolution also states Superintendent Ben Shuldiner has the authority to implement safety measures including, but not limited to, “capital improvements, implementation of single points of entry, and the use of weapons detectors.”
According to Seattle Public Schools, the superintendent already held the authority to implement safety measures like weapons detectors in the district; the resolution is an “expression” of board support.
The board’s decision is the latest chapter in the district and city’s struggle to address gun violence at or near Seattle Public Schools. In November 2022, 17-year-old Ebenezer Haile was killed in a shooting at Ingraham High School. In June 2024, 17-year-old Garfield student Amarr Murphy-Paine was killed outside the school at lunchtime.
Two teenage boys were shot and killed in January 2026 at a bus stop near Rainier Beach High School - just two days before Superintendent Ben Shuldiner’s first day.