Added Security Measures To Friday Night Lights Football

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– If you plan on going out to a high school football game in District Five get ready to be met with some extra security measures.   District Five said to expect longer lines to get in the gate of a Friday night football game. The district is adding security which includes handheld metal detectors to screen all fans going in. Metal detectors, bag searches, and chaperones for all students 8th grade and under are just a few of the new security measures District Five is adding before varsity football games at Chapin, Dutch Fork, and Irmo high schools.

“These are just measures that we want to over-communicate with our community. We realize that we provide a great tradition of Friday Night Lights to our community and we don’t want to sacrifice our safety and security in those efforts,” Dr. Akil Ross said, Director of Secondary Education in District Five which is both Richland and Lexington counties. 

Panic and chaos broke loose during Irmo and Dutch Fork High School’s football game August 31. Witnesses say some boys ran down the stairs yelling, “they’re shooting,” while others screamed an active shooter was in the end zone. The game was evacuated but Richland County confirmed no shots were ever fired.

“Emergencies are just that. We don’t know when they’re going to happen. So we look at our response and our ability to mobilize those people who are in place, communicate out to our stakeholders, and get everyone home safely that night. That was the best response. Now, we’re always looking at ways to improve,” Dr. Akil Ross said. 

Fearing for safety is something that Dr. Ross said he never had to do when he was playing football himself, and that is something he wants to pass on to the kids in his school district.

“The era in which we live, we have to recognize that we must change with the conditions. But again, we don’t want any of our students to be worried about that we have enough of the adults in charge to worry about it. But we do want them to be prepared so we do have these emergency plans and continue to update these emergency plans,” Dr. Akil Ross said.  Dr. Ross said to only bring what you need to football games. They will also be charging admission through the entire game and having School Resource Officers travel with the teams at away games now.