Long lines at metal detectors surprise students in Florida.

The first day of classes for middle school students in the Broward County Public Schools was different due to the long lines to go through the metal detectors that the district has placed at the entrance of all schools at this level.

"It's really horrible because she is going to be standing in the sun for who knows how long. There are many children outside," said Leticia Abaladejo, a mother concerned about the situation, to Local 10.

The new measure has the support of many parents, although most expected that any issues would have been resolved earlier.

"They need to find a way to speed up that process so that they can go through the metal detectors securely," said Abaladejo.

"I think they need to be more organized. But I understand that it's the first day," appreciated another parent.

However, this Tuesday the outlook seemed different, according to another report from Local 10, which followed up on the start of the school year in Florida.

"It doesn't look bad at all, I like this right now because they have the door open right there, so that's good," said D'Ericka Patterson, a student at Dillard High School.

In the state, there are a total of 38 schools, including 28 middle schools, which added new metal detectors for the 2024-2025 school year.

"Today it's better, there aren't as many people. They made it easier. Yesterday they had a metal detector, today it seems they have two," said Logen Connor, a student at Dillard High School.

It seems that the authorities have been correcting the errors that occurred this Monday, on the first day of classes.

"We also know that we have concerns with some of our larger secondary schools that experienced significant delays, and for that reason, we are reviewing that. In fact, we are going to send some of them an additional metal detector system so that they can use multiple entrances to solve some of our problems," said Howard Hepburn, superintendent of Broward, while apologizing for the delays.

Hepburn also urged students to support the authorities.

"Many of our students still keep things in their backpacks that they shouldn't have, their electronic devices, those large three-ring binders, umbrellas, those things should be taken out and will help them get through the line faster to be more efficient," Hepburn noted.

The metal detector project was approved this year and started as a pilot plan in two schools, and as of this Monday, it is being implemented in all educational centers. The first few weeks will be for adjustments to improve the measure, according to managers.

"All this is done to minimize risks and not to hinder the work of the students. There is no violation of people's freedom here; what is being done is to increase the level of security for each of them," added Arturo Grandon, master in security sciences, while speaking on NTN24.