St. Cloud Tech adds metal detectors after game threat

St. Cloud Tech adds metal detectors after game threat Richard Reeve KSTP New game plan for school safety St. Cloud Tech High School is adding new game security after a threat raised concerns ahead of homecoming.The school used metal detectors, bag checks, and had a highly visible police presence at its homecoming football game Friday afternoon.The district also moved kickoff to 4:30 p.m. and required people to leave promptly after the game.It was exactly one week ago that gunfire shut down Eden Prairie High School’s homecoming football game— and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people.READ MORE: Eden Prairie Police share new details in an apparent gang-related shooting at homecoming game “It’s crazy how the world has come to this,” declared Kiki Seamon, a mother of five. “This type of tragedy where we have to have security at a high school football game.”School officials said the changes came days after authorities learned about “a social media post of a potential threat of a large, planned fight at the game.”Principal Molly Kensy said, “Where the sun’s shining, our pep band’s playing,” Kenzy said. “Both teams are here and ready to play.”Parent Stacy Timm said about the increased security, “Well, at first it was kind of disheartening. But I also feel they’re doing the steps they need to make everyone safe.”Police said there were no weapons mentioned in the threat against the school. School officials and parents said they were well aware of the shooting outside Eden Prairie High School.Timm said, “I had just heard because I had a relative that was at the(Eden Prairie) game, and so they’re having a hard time because their daughter was there.”Kensy said, “Yeah, I think the community concerns that came up. Some of the things that we’ve seen across the state. We wanted to make sure we were proactive and that we were ahead of it.”“I asked my husband are you okay if I take the kids?” Timm explains. “And he was like, I would boycott it, and I’m like, but this is for the kids, you know? For the team.”The district said the added security will remain in place for all football and soccer games this fall season. Staffers are also considering expanding those measures into wintertime and beyond.“We want to be able to have a good, well-run activity here that celebrates all the hard work that both teams have put into their season,” Kensy says. “We just want a fun and successful night.”