School Safety Upgrades And Bus Scandal Rock Districts

School safety and transportation have come under the spotlight in two major U.S. school districts this week, with decisions made on both the front lines of student protection and the back end of school operations. In Florida, the Marion County Public School Board took decisive steps to bolster campus security, while in Maryland, the state’s Board of Education upheld a ruling that a $168 million electric bus contract was illegal, leaving taxpayers and school officials grappling with the fallout.

On January 27, 2026, the Marion County Public School Board in Ocala, Florida, unanimously approved a $400,000 purchase for 19 Open Gate Weapon Detection Systems, according to 352today.com. This investment marks a significant escalation in efforts to keep students and staff safe in an era where the threat of weapons on campus remains a sobering reality. Each high school in the district, including Bridgeway Academy, will receive two new detection systems, and two additional units are earmarked for the Safe Schools Department, serving as backups or for use during special events.

These systems are not just for daily use. They’ll be deployed at football games, after-hours events, graduations, and any public function where large crowds gather on school grounds. “They’ll serve as a deterrent for someone who might be thinking about bringing a weapon to school,” said Dennis McFatten, Safe Schools executive director, as reported by 352today.com. The district’s recent brush with a student allegedly possessing a gun at a middle school underscored the need for such technology. In that incident, over 1,000 students had to be searched manually—a process that the new systems would have made “much easier, faster and more efficient,” McFatten explained.

Implementing these systems is not as simple as plugging them in and flipping a switch. Each school will undergo an intensive training program before the detectors are put into service. “There’s an intensive training program written up in the agreement and I’m excited about that,” said Lori Conrad, the MCPS vice chair. The district is also planning a robust public relations campaign to prepare students and families. Informational videos and flyers will walk students through the process so that, on day one, there are no surprises or confusion.

But the technology comes at a cost, both financially and emotionally. “It’s a $400,000 line item and it’s an example of how much more expensive it has become to provide safe education and safe environments for our students,” said Nancy Thrower, MCPS board member for District 4. She added, “I wish that our Safe Schools allocation that we get, which we’re grateful for, obviously, covered every expense that we need, but that’s not the case, so we’re always going to do what’s best and safest for everyone that works for us and attends our schools.” Thrower admitted, “I continue to be sad for where we are in society that this is even necessary. But until it becomes unnecessary, we’re going to do it. We’re going to continue to advocate for the funding that we need to do it right.”

The Open Gate systems can be calibrated for sensitivity, which means they can be set to detect something as small as an ink pen or larger metal items like laptops and binders. McFatten noted, “Once we get the sensitivity level to a comfortable level, to where we know there’s not weapons being passed onto the school campus, we’ll set it at that.” To avoid disruptions, students will be instructed to remove laptops and large binders before passing through the detectors, handing them to staff and retrieving them on the other side. While the initial rollout may slow morning routines, McFatten believes the process will become “more seamless and not disrupt the entire school day” as everyone adjusts.

Special events, such as graduations where attendance can exceed 5,000 people, will see multiple detection stations set up, staffed by Safe Schools personnel, law enforcement, and school staff. The aim is to make the process as smooth as possible, even as it represents a significant change in the way school events are managed. Rev. Eric Cummings, MCPS board member for District 3, summed up the challenge: “Oftentimes, when there’s an implementation of something new and different, it breaks routines. People get anxious and impatient and create a lot of ruckus for something that’s going to benefit them... safety isn’t convenient, but it’s necessary.”

While Marion County is investing in new technology to protect its students, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland is dealing with the aftermath of a procurement scandal that has cast a long shadow over its efforts to modernize its transportation fleet. On January 28, 2026, Maryland’s State Board of Education denied MCPS’s appeal regarding a $168 million contract with Highland Electric Fleets, as reported by 7News. The board had previously ruled the contract illegal, citing violations of the district’s own procurement rules.

The contract, which was supposed to deliver 326 electric buses, was terminated last summer after only 285 vehicles had been delivered. The deal had been plagued by questions from the start. A public report challenged MCPS’s claim that switching from diesel to electric buses would result in “zero net change” in transportation costs. The Montgomery County Inspector General raised further concerns about delivery delays and the district’s failure to recover $372,000 from Highland for buses that were not operational.

The situation was further complicated by criminal convictions of two former MCPS transportation officials, including an assistant director who stole more than $300,000 from the project. The state board’s 11-page report concluded that their involvement “tainted” the procurement process. Janis Zink Sartucci of the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County, a watchdog group, called the state’s findings unprecedented. “I have certainly never seen a decision by the Montgomery County Board of Education declared illegal. It is outrageous that our Board of Education and Superintendent have not addressed this issue that has been ongoing for years,” she told 7News. “Instead, they’ve opted to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees on what the State Board of Education now calls a tainted bid award.”

Despite the contract’s termination, MCPS remains entangled with Highland Electric Fleets. The district does not own the buses or the charging infrastructure—it leases them, which means taxpayers are still responsible for annual lease payments. As of the latest reporting, MCPS had not commented on the state board’s denial of their appeal, and Highland Electric Fleets declined to comment, referring inquiries back to the district.

These two stories, while unfolding in different states and under very different circumstances, highlight the complex, often costly challenges facing American public schools today. Whether it’s the price of new security measures or the fallout from procurement failures, the stakes remain high for students, families, and taxpayers alike. As both districts move forward—one with new security gates, the other with lingering questions about oversight and accountability—the broader debate about the cost and complexity of keeping schools safe and efficient shows no sign of fading away.