Arlington high schools implement ID checks after trespassing in Yorktown

Three public high schools in Arlington are increasing their security measures after a domestic disturbance in Yorktown last week.

Starting this week, students at Yorktown, Wakefield and Washington-Liberty high schools will be required to present pre-approved identification to staff to enter school buildings. Accepted forms include school-issued photo IDs, StudentVue accounts, and government-issued IDs such as a driver's license.

The new requirement comes about a week after a former student allegedly entered Yorktown High School, prompting a significant police response and trespassing charges.

Jim Miller, assistant director of safety, security and emergency management at Arlington Public Schools, says the decision is in response to the evolving “threat landscape” that includes fake bomb threats, social media threats and hitting incidents that people want to get into A police SWAT team is scheduled to arrive at a non-emergency location.

“For us, this was a natural progression… we're just putting an additional layer of security and controls in place to make sure our schools are safe in the morning and throughout the day,” Miller told ARLnow.

Yorktown was the first school to adopt the new system, which came into effect yesterday (Wednesday). Miller says Washington-Liberty and Wakefield plan to require the same IDs starting tomorrow (Friday).

So far, things have been going smoothly in Yorktown, Miller said.

“It was pretty routine,” he said. “In fact, the arrival had no impact. Students were able to get through school like it was a normal day.”

Miller noted that students who forget their IDs will still be allowed to enter the building after verifying their identity using their Social Security number, student ID number or a quick name search.

It is unclear whether the new system will be permanent or temporary. Currently, APS is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“We're going to try to understand this, see how it works, what impact it has on employees and so on,” Miller said. “There are many factors that we have to evaluate. We will carry out an evaluation after a few weeks and determine whether this holds up in the longer term.”