Rank One Computing, a Colorado-based company that specializes in facial recognition technology, plans to add the function to current services already in place in Marion County Schools by cross-referencing photos of school visitors with photos pulled from the West Virginia State Police's sex offender registry.
Earlier this year, Rank One partnered with the Marion County Board of Education to implement facial recognition technology at entryways to all public schools in Marion County, beginning with West Fairmont Middle School. Marion County was the first in West Virginia to implement facial recognition security measures at school entrances.
Other functions under development by Rank One will also enable school administrators who oversee school security to identify the license plates of vehicles on school property, and flag them when an individual enters school facilities with unknown or potentially dangerous items.
The new functions that could be rolled out in Marion County Schools were shared with members of the Marion County Board of Education at their meeting Monday evening. School Superintendent Donna Heston described the software, and Marion County's role in supporting its growth, as "something to be proud of."
"It adds another layer of security and deterrence that we believe is helpful in our schools," she said.
Currently, the software scans all individuals who pass through an entrance to local public schools. Frequent visitors who enroll with the Board's program by scanning their face into its digital repository can expedite their entrance into school properties.
Other individuals who are either not enrolled or are identified as a potential security threat will be stopped at school entrances for standard security checks, Heston said, adding that the system works similarly to a service that examines the drivers' licenses of visitors.
When asked about enrollment policies, Heston clarified that enrolling in the system occurs on an at-will basis. Visitors are not required to enroll in the Board's facial recognition software, which some across the United States have linked to security and data concerns.
Instead, the software serves as a way to expedite entry for families and frequent visitors, and to deter individuals who might be unfit for entry in school properties, Heston said. It comes down to "ease of access," she added.
Crimes that can place West Virginians on the sex offender registry differ in severity. Representatives with Rank One explained that only individuals whose charges pose a threat to Marion County youth would be flagged by the software.
Costs for implementing the software across county schools runs between the $40,000 and $50,000 range, although Heston and Rank One's representatives were unable to pinpoint an exact figure during Monday's meeting.
Regardless, the Rank One representatives emphasized that expansions to current services — such as adding methods of identifying potential sex offenders or weapons — would come at no cost to the Board, which already purchased and implemented the base software at the start of the year.
Over the course of Monday's meeting, members of the Board expressed overwhelming support for the software and its function thus far, describing Marion County's adoption of facial recognition technology in schools as an opportunity to set a precedent in the Mountain State.
"I'm just a huge proponent of school safety," Board Member George Boyles said. As for facial recognition technology itself, "I just think it's the way to go in the future."
"I don't think we can put a price on safety," Board Member Thomas Dragich said.
In years to come, Heston said she would be particularly interested in exploring Rank One's weapon and unknown item identification system, which she described as increasingly important for schools today.
"Anything we can do to add those extra layers of safety and security not just inside our buildings, but in our parking lots and in our stadiums — I think those are things that we would be very interested in and willing to explore," she said.
©2023 the Times West Virginian (Fairmont, W. Va.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.