Long lines for student searches drew criticism. Now this school is making changes.

Lexington’s Lafayette High School is making some adjustments Thursday after parents and students expressed concerns that students were waiting in long lines outside the building while the school phased in backpack searches and metal detectors.

One parent, Roel Coenders, contacted Fayette Superintendent Manny Caulk earlier this month asking that an alternative be found. The student newspaper, The Lafayette Times, said in a post on September 12 that the lines had caused stress and frustration.

In a letter to parents on Tuesday, Lafayette administrators said that as of Thursday, they will change the way that students enter the building. Then, the school will phase in safety changes one step at a time.

Lafayette is Fayette County’s fifth main high school to implement metal detectors and bag searches since last year when Caulk introduced $13.5 million in school security reforms. The improvements, which an advisory council helped draft following high school shootings in Western Kentucky and Florida, were the result of a 2018 tax rate increase.

At Lafayette, metal detectors will be set up in the school gymnasium , creating one entry point at the back gymnasium doors. The metal detectors will be set up across the gymnasium floor in a row closer to the gym foyer doors, the administration’s letter to families said.

“This will allow students to enter the building and be inside while waiting to go through the metal detectors and bag checks. This will ensure our students have shelter in the event of inclement weather,” the letter said.

Once students have adjusted to the change of where they enter the building and things are running smoothly, school officials will once again begin checking student bags on Tuesday October 1 and Wednesday October 2.

And once students have mastered the bag check process, the school will begin its transition to activating the metal detectors, aiming for mid-October.

“The process has become more fluid,” Fayette County Public Schools Chief Operating Officer Myron Thompson said at the September 23 school board meeting. “Things have much improved.”

Board member Will Nash mentioned at the meeting that he had received more comments from parents about the rollout of the security changes at Lafayette than at other high schools that have implemented bag checks and metal detectors.

In response, Superintendent Manny Caulk said that an adjustment period with the bag checks and metal detectors was expected.

“What we are doing is hardening the building, but softening the school,” Caulk said. “It’s going to become... seamless as we move forward.”

School district officials at one time had plans to install metal detectors at Henry Clay High School in the 2019-2020 school year. But at the school board meeting, Thompson said the installation of metal detectors was going to be pushed to the fall of 2020 to coincide with the construction of a secure vestibule and some additional construction for walk-through metal detectors.