PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — Prince William County Schools are looking into more ways to keep their students safe in the wake of yet another tragic school shooting in Virginia.

Less than two weeks after a six-year-old student in Newport News shot a teacher inside the classroom, Prince William County Superintendent LaTanya McDade said school shootings are not isolated incidents, and something needs to be done in her district.

In a newsletter sent to families on Friday, Jan. 13, McDade floated the idea of “security screenings” as people enter county schools.

“This new preventative measure is a critical step toward protection,” McDade said at Wednesday night’s school board meeting.

The security screening technology has become advanced to the point it can use “non-evasive detection,” McDade wrote in the letter, saying that similar tactics have been successfully used in other jurisdictions.

“We are dutifully exploring this investment into our student and staff’s safety,” she said.

No formal plan has been pitched to the other school board members, but with the idea circulating, some folks in the county are speaking out against it.

“If we’re only going to put metal detectors on certain doors, then we’ve just wasted a bunch of money and people are just diluting themselves into thinking they’re safe,” said Marty Weaver, a parent of a PWCS alum.

Weaver is not sold on the plan and said in an interview with DC News Now that she believes student safety starts at home, and that’s more important than technology.

“My husband was law enforcement,” she said. “Our son knew never to touch the gun. If you wanted to touch it, you talk to dad.”

Kim Short, who’s running for a spot on the county’s board of supervisors, said she would want to see the proposal before deciding if it’s a worthwhile investment. But she agrees that student safety is critical, and these conversations need to happen.

“We do not want to have to be here explaining why we have allowed any of our children to either be hurt or, more sadly, to pass away because of some useless killings,” Short said.

In her letter to families, which you can read in its entirety here, McDade wrote: “In the coming weeks, PWCS will begin engaging families and community members to discuss and gather input regarding the potential addition of advanced security screening technology in PWCS schools as early as the 2023-24 school year.”