Education officials are turning more and more to artificial intelligence in a bid to shore up school security.
Mansfield Independent School District’s (ISD) board is currently deliberating the use of AI scanners capable of detecting concealed weapons after a recommendation was made by administrators on Tuesday.
The devices developed by Evolv Technology would be used in lieu of traditional metal detectors.
The proposal presented to the school board noted that Evolv’s screening system detects concealed threats more effectively and more efficiently than the district’s current system. It only requires that people pass by a moveable tower instead of having to remove articles of clothing and bags before filing through detectors.
“It’s not invasive, it won’t cost time, and it won’t cause tardies,” one Mansfield ISD board member noted, according to WFAA.
While Evolv claimed to have detected more than 100,000 weapons in 2022 using this technology, the scanners have come under fire recently.
Brian Nolan, the superintendent of Utica City School District in New York, told CBS News that its Evolv system installed for a whopping $3.7 million last year has failed to detect at least one gun and several knives.
A student stabbed another last October using a 7-inch hunting knife Nolan described as “a pretty substantial-sized knife” yet the scanner “didn’t detect it.”
Evolv’s co-founder Anil Chitkara explained that no security system is perfect.
“There are limitations in our technology, as there is with any technology,” Chitkara said, according to CBS News. “And if anybody says they have technology with no limitation and says it’s 100 percent effective, I wouldn’t go near it.”
School districts, theme parks, and sporting venues across the country have begun implementing Evolv’s screening technology.
Since spring, Forney ISD’s campuses are included in what Evolv reports to be 465 school buildings across 34 states currently using its AI scanners, according to WFAA.
“We are proud of the partnership with Evolv and will continue to strive each and every day to provide our Forney Family a safe educational environment where students can learn and flourish,” said Forney ISD Police Chief Joseph Sanders, according to WFAA.
Other North Texas school districts have turned to different uses of technology to boost both school safety and efficiency.
As recently reported in The Dallas Express, Frisco ISD is expanding a pilot of its tech-driven student ID system next year that will enhance safety protocols in a variety of ways.
Not only will the system track students’ movements during their daily commute — for instance, when they enter and get off the bus — but it will also make it easier to locate them during an emergency.
The district’s managing director of transportation Jerad Castor called the system “a game changer,” according to Community Impact.
Some other districts have opted for more low-tech options, such as the clear backpack policies recently implemented by Dallas ISD and Mesquite ISD.
Yet as previously reported in The Dallas Express, some education and security experts have questioned how effective this measure will be in terms of improving school safety.