As students walked into Hickman High School in Columbia one Tuesday last month, things were pretty much normal—except they had to unzip their bookbags and take their laptops out as they walked in.
Columbia Public Schools was holding a demonstration of the Evolv Express weapons detection system, which the district is considering implementing in three of its high schools—Rock Bridge, Battle and Hickman.
The demonstrations were a result of requests from students to increase safety measures in schools, and echoes the growing interest in increasing security in schools across the country. Evolv said its systems, which are also used in places like sporting venues, are already in place in about 400 schools throughout the country – though none are in Missouri.
The Evolv system sits just inside the doors to the school. It looks similar to the anti-theft systems stores use to prevent shoplifting. Further inside the school building, a couple of iPads demonstrate the back end of the system.
The tablets are open to an app that shows each person walking through the system– and if the system detects something it thinks might be contraband, it alerts.
The alert is a red bounding box around part of the person that set the system off. Evolv said this feature is something that sets itself apart from competitors.
The systems aren’t cheap. Depending on the specifications, Evolv said one of its weapons detector units costs approximately $2,000 a month. Jill Lemond, Evolv’s education director, said Evolv systems use AI technology to help detect weapons by looking for shapes that are consistent with firearm components.
“It's not only looking for the metallic value, but it's also looking for the density and size and shape of that metallic content within people's items as they're coming through,” Lemond said. “And so what our system is very good at doing is it's good at alerting on specific types of weapons.”
“We're all concerned about safety,” Columbia School Board vice president Jeanne Snodgrass said. “We're also very concerned that this continues to feel like a school and that students feel like their privacy is being respected.”
The system can be set to different sensitivity levels, depending on the needs of the facility it’s in. Lemond said these factors allow people to go through the system faster, and makes the process feel less intrusive.
“When kids are coming into school every morning, we want them to feel seen,” Lemond said. “We want them to feel welcome.”
Students are the ones leading the charge for implementing more protections at school. Karli Jones is the founder and president of Students for Change, a student activist group that’s working to increase school safety and prevent gun violence. She said students pitched Evolv because they viewed it as less intrusive and more efficient – as students can walk through with their backpacks on.
While she said she’s pleased the demonstration happened, she’s concerned that if the district decides to use the Evolv system, it won’t be as intended - at every entrance to the school.
“Right now, the conversations that I've heard is that it's not going to be to catch weapons, it's going to be a deterrent,” Jones said. “And I think that deterrents are important. But when you have the opportunity to implement a weapon detection system into your school, you need to use that as a weapon detection system.”
The idea that additional safety measures could make school might “feel” different is on the minds of many. Jeanne Snodgrass, the vice president of the Columbia School Board, said it’s a priority when considering adding additional safety measures.
“We're all concerned about safety,” Snodgrass said. “We're also very concerned that this continues to feel like a school and that students feel like their privacy is being respected.”
Teresa Gooch is the second vice president of Columbia Public Schools’ chapter of the Missouri National Education Association and teaches health at Hickman. She said teachers have mixed feelings about the district’s efforts so far.
“Some people were frustrated that it happened without a larger conversation with teachers,” Gooch said. “Some people thought that it was maybe performative more than actual substantial change.”
And she said she hopes finding the best solution includes the perspectives of those in school buildings every day.
“It probably is a great idea to get all students and staff and families involved in just that decision,” she said.
More than 1,100 students passed through the Evolv system in 25 minutes on the first day of testing on April 11. Other tests continued throughout the week. The district said the demonstration was “a success,” but at this time, it does not have a timeline for implementing any measures.
