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GCS begins body scanner pilot in two high schools

Mike Richey, executive director of safety and emergency management with Guilford County Schools, answers questions from school board members about the body scanners during a recent meeting. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Guilford County Schools is launching a pilot program during summer school to test touchless body scanners at some high schools. Parents and community members can see how they work during two open houses this week.

The scanners are installed at the entrance of Smith High School and High Point Central High.

District leaders say the touchless technology known as Evolv Express can screen 3,600 people per hour and works ten times faster than metal detectors. Students don't have to take their bags off or empty their pockets because it has the ability to determine the difference between weapons and ordinary daily items such as keys and computers.

Executive Director of Safety and Emergency Management with the school system, Mike Richey, says this program is meant to address concerns about long lines, privacy, and staffing. 

“This scanner system is for high volumes of people to come into school and it's really directed at schools where the threats are from internal, which is what the evidence shows for high schools,” says Richey.

Guilford County Schools says it does not collect or store any personally identifiable information. Federal COVID relief dollars are being used to fund the technology.

Richey says five handguns were confiscated on campuses this past school year and a report of a sixth one was made, but never found.

“And I will say this all day every day: the number one thing that we can do for school safety is create strong relationships within our schools," says Richey. "This is one more layer that will help us in securing a location that we believe we can secure better.”

An open house to learn more about the scanners will be held at Smith High on June 22, and at High Point Central on June 23. Both will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. 

The district will collect feedback from the open house. If the program is successful, the technology will be installed in all high schools in Guilford County.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

 

 

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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