There’s just one problem: their efforts might not be going so well.
CMS is in the process of installing body scanners in every middle school in an attempt to reduce the number of weapons that make their way onto school campuses. The scanners, which are manufactured by Evolv Technology, have been in all 21 of the district’s traditional high schools since late last school year.
“The installation of the Evolv body scanners in our high schools have proven to be effective in deterring weapons in our schools in the second semester,” CMS Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh wrote to families in July. “We will continue the rollout of scanners to the remaining CMS high schools as well as a plan to reach our middle and K-8 schools.”
But, despite what CMS leaders told the public, the installation of the body scanners was not a total success. District leaders had reservations about the functionality and efficiency of the scanners after the initial rollout began, a new Charlotte Observer investigation shows.
It reflects a larger pattern of unfulfilled promises, unproven successes and unsubstantiated claims from CMS, especially when it comes to school safety — as well as a continued lack of candor and honesty about what’s working and what’s not.
One weapon was detected by the scanners at Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology in May. But the sensitivity level required to successfully detect certain weapons, such as a Glock pistol, also sounds the alarm on harmless school supplies and personal items, such as three-ring binders and Google Chromebook laptops.
Several schools in South Carolina were among the first to install the technology and have used it for more than two years. A Spartanburg County district official told CMS that 25 percent of students are still triggering the scanners with school supplies or personal items as they pass through the scanners and have to be searched, according to emails obtained by the Observer. That invites further questions: what happens when there is a false alarm? Is that student presumed to be a threat until a security officer searches through their belongings? And how might that make certain students feel less safe, the same way school resource officers do?
Evolv claims its body scanners are “efficient” because they are a “touchless” experience that doesn’t require users to empty their pockets or bags. But a how-to video posted earlier this year by administrators at Butler High School instructs students to remove certain belongings from their backpacks — and walk through the scanner holding their laptops above their heads — to avoid setting off a false alarm.
There is a scarcity of research about the effectiveness of tools like metal detectors and body scanners in schools. Nor is there much research to support the use of clear backpacks, another solution that CMS had planned to implement as part of its “layered approach” to school safety. The district spent more than $440,000 on tens of thousands of clear backpacks, only to never actually distribute them. The backpacks were auctioned off last month for $85,000.
Charlotteans might also recall the failure that was Centegix, an emergency alert system introduced by the district in 2019. CMS administrators agreed to pay more than $1 million for the equipment without a contract or school board approval, and reassured the public that it would make schools safer. Except the system didn’t work. The district then sued Centegix, ultimately settling for a partial $475,000 refund.
Perhaps, functionality aside, these technologies can be effective because they serve as a deterrent — students are less likely to bring guns to school if they think they’ll get caught. But considering how much the district has spent on body scanners so far — $15 million — that’s an expensive deterrent, and an inconvenient one at that.
CMS, to its credit, seems to understand the urgency of the situation, as well as its role in addressing it. Parents and students have grown increasingly worried, and CMS is trying to make things better. That’s not a bad instinct. But in its eagerness to assuage the community’s fears, the district is confusing real solutions with security theater — providing the feeling of increased safety, but not actually achieving it.
Body scanners and other surveillance technologies might make schools seem safer. And despite their many downsides, they might occasionally achieve their intended purpose. But they aren’t addressing the root of the problem: students getting their hands on weapons and bringing them to school in the first place.
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