Bullitt County Public Schools survey parents on AI weapon detectors

BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. (WDRB) — Leaders from Bullitt County Public Schools are considering installing artificial intelligence-generated weapon detectors at high schools in the district.

The money to cover the cost of the security systems is already allocated in the current school budget, but the district sent out a survey to parents to get their input on the idea.

"We have the funds available to us, but before we spent them, we wanted to make sure we did our research," BCPS superintendent Dr. Jesse Bacon said. "We wanted to make sure we presented our case to the community and talked about what we were looking at implementing, why we were looking at implementing that and then getting their feedback."

Dr. Bacon said the district isn't experiencing any major safety issues, adding that they're always looking for ways to improve safety.

He said every now and then, they may come across students who have pocketknives or things of that nature.

"The most common prohibited item we see in our schools are vapes, and that's something of great concern to us," Bacon said.

Schools in the district already have student resource officers, secured doors and school entry protocols.

Some of the technology district leaders are looking at can detect vapes.

Bacon said he doesn't want to forfeit comfort for safety. He and district leaders are looking at safety systems that are specifically designed for K-12 spaces.

"For us, it's really about how we provide this layer of protection without students feeling like more of an institution. We don't want students to feel like they're coming to the airport," Bacon said. "We don't want them to feel like they're going through a security check point at a courthouse. We want them to feel like they're coming into a school."

Brock Johnson graduated from North Bullitt High last year. He said he's all for the idea of installing weapon detection systems.

"People bringing things they're not supposed to," Johnson said.

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