When students returned to the classroom following months of remote learning due to the pandemic, schools went back to making decisions about the best ways to keep students safe. For the Champaign Unit 4 School District in central Illinois, the solution has been the leader in weapons detection security screening, Evolv Technology. Champaign is using Evolv Express at its Central and Centennial high schools, with impressive early results.
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“With the metal detectors and wanding, the students felt like they were in jail”
The Champaign school board’s decision to partner with Evolv was made after a number of security incidents, including students who were found carrying handguns, BB guns and knives, threats made via social media, and a shooting at a neighboring high school. To proactively address potential violence, the district instituted wand checks conducted by teachers and administrators. However, manually wanding students led to long lines and missed learning. Some students were missing their first period class entirely due to waiting up to two hours to enter school in the morning. Evolv has proven to be a more efficient method to help keep students, faculty, staff and visitors safe. In just its first two months of use, Evolv screened more than 182,000 visitors to the two high schools and detected multiple weapons.
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Evolv Express® uses powerful sensor technology with artificial intelligence (AI) to provide safer, more accurate threat detection at unprecedented volume and speed. Students walk right through without having to stop, speeding up the process and making them feel safer without being intrusive.
“With the metal detectors and wanding, the students felt like they were in jail,” said Valarian Couch, chief information officer for the Champaign Unit 4 School District. “They felt like they had to be searched for everything. But if they do not feel safe enough to come to school, at some point we have to put mechanisms in place. With Evolv, they feel like it’s just another day – they get to walk into school and not have any problems. The teachers too. To have a safe environment and for the teachers to say, ‘Well, now we can actually start teaching,’ is huge.”
Two additional Express systems will be set up to screen fans at high school football games beginning this fall, and the district is looking at data provided by Evolv to determine whether to implement additional systems at the district’s middle schools. It is also working to integrate Evolv with its existing camera system for enhanced security.
“We believe no student should ever have concerns about security in school,” said Peter George, CEO of Evolv Technology. “We are happy to be working with the Champaign School District to help keep students and teachers safe and put the focus back in the classroom where it belongs.”
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