LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Jefferson County Board of Education will vote Tuesday on a proposal that would place new safety measures in schools.
Jefferson County Public Schools has been looking into weapon detection systems called Evolv, which are different from metal detectors.
The technology is already used in Louisville, at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. It uses artificial intelligence-based technology to detect weapons, and allows people to walk through without removing bags or emptying pockets.
A guard monitors the system on a tablet, and is alerted when a weapon is detected on a person.
But opinions about the technology varies, amid some reports that it isn't successful. A school district in Utica, New York, said a student got through with a knife and stabbed another student.
"The Evolv weapons system was designed for use at large arenas or stadiums to prevent incidents of mass casualties and is not adequate or practical for school use," Utica City Schools' Interim Superintendent Brian Nolan said.
Knowing this, JCPS is still considering the use of the technology in schools, saying it's just one layer to its safety plan and acts as a deterrent.
A school district in Florida also uses the Evolv technology. The district's chief of police said the system's most sensitive level can detect knives, along with guns and explosives. But that results in more false positives. However, those false positives started to decrease the longer the system was in use, the chief of police said.
If approved, JCPS' plan would cost about $17 million. The technology would be phased into middle and high schools first.
Board member James Craig said the approval and list of schools that will receive the technology first could come as soon as Tuesday. Craig is the member that asked the district to continue its implementation plans at a board meeting last month.
"I know that my constituents in the East End are clear with me that they're expecting the Board of Education to do something about the gun crisis in our community," Craig said.
Tuesday's vote will be the final vote to approve the technology. It has advanced previous discussions.
Related stories:
- Weapon detection systems proposed for JCPS schools already in use in Louisville
- JCPS advances new weapons detection system in middle, high schools to final vote
- JCPS board, superintendent to consider proposal to install metal detectors in schools
- What happens when students are found with guns at JCPS schools?
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