Girl's Slaying Elicits Calls for Metal Detectors

By Jessica Portner

The death of a 1st grade girl shot by a 6-year-old classmate in a Michigan classroom has prompted educators to examine whether metal detectors ought to be deployed in elementary schools. While security equipment is rare in grade schools, and many experts question if it's needed at all, parents like Laura Simons are now pushing schools to buy hardware to keep their children safe.

Buell Elementary School resumed classes last week, but Ms. Simons said her 8-year-old son wouldn't be joining the other students. He was just down the hall from the classroom in the Mount Morris Township, Mich., school where 6-year-old Kayla Rowland was shot point-blank in the chest Feb. 29.

"My son heard a boom and the kids crying," said Ms. Simons, who last week had gathered 4,000 signatures on a petition asking the 2,800-student Beecher District to install surveillance cameras and metal detectors at Buell. "I am worried my kid is...