NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) wasted no time implementing new security measures following the deadly shooting inside Antioch High School.
After a lengthy discussion Tuesday, the Board of Education unanimously voted to expand a weapons detection system across all high schools in the district.
“To be clear, I wish we lived in a world where schools could remain open and free from the fear of gun violence,” MNPS board member Erin Block said.
What began as a pilot program at Antioch High School, established in direct response to the deadly shooting there Jan. 22, has been given the green light to expand to other MNPS high schools.
“We know that this isn’t a perfect solution to every challenge we face when it comes to keeping our schools safe,” MNPS director Dr. Adrienne Battle said. “It is once again meant to be a part of a multi-layered approach to safety.”
Last month, an Antioch High School student brought a gun on campus, killing a classmate.
“This has been less than a month since this has happened,” MNPS Board of Education chair Freda Player said. “I know there was a call from the community for us to act more quickly and with an extreme sense of urgency and our first priority was our children. We had a crisis and we dealt with that crisis.”
The Evolv system uses advanced sensors and artificial intelligence to identify weapons and prohibited items without using metal detectors, allowing students to walk through without removing their belongings. It’s the same technology used in other districts, like Rutherford County Schools.
“It’s not a perfect science right? That is one of the most important parts about our technology: because it’s using the AI, it’s actually learning not from those individual systems, but from our entire fleet of over 6,000 systems across the world,” Evolv’s vice president of education, Jill Lemond, said.
An estimated $1.25 million will be used to expand the technology into every public high school within the MNPS system.
MNPS also addressed a lawsuit involving Evolv Technologies. However, during Tuesday night’s meeting, Battle pressed forward putting faith in the technology.
“This involved some marketing material and claims made by the company in the past regarding the systems, but are not currently in use,” Battle said.
Next, MNPS plans on conducting school visits to ensure each high school can manage the flow of the technology. The Board of Education is not sure when every school will have the technology, but plans on pushing the system out in phases.
