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Prince William County Schools hope to have scanners in all middle and high schools by the fall

The Prince William County School Board is set to vote on the proposal in May. It is expected to pass.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Prince William County Schools is expected to join the growing list of school districts to install weapons detection scanners.

"We don't want to be that school division to say what could we have done to prevent something like this from happening," said Dr. Babur Lateef, the Prince William County School Board chairman.

The school board met Wednesday night to discuss the plan to install Evolv Technology scanners in 34 middle and high schools across the county.

They've held three in-person and one virtual community forum over the last few months to get feedback from the community.

They shared some of that feedback in this presentation Wednesday.

Lateef told WUSA9 the majority of the feedback they received was positive but said cost and privacy were the biggest concerns they received.

He said it'll cost the county about $10.7 million over four years.

"We do not want surveillance. No and no! This is not a prison," said one parent, according to the board.

Lateef said many of us already go through similar scanners to the Evolv scanners on a regular basis.

"We go through these things at our museums, for concerts and shows. It's really sad, but it is the reality. It's become a matter of routine unfortunately," he said.

In March, Osbourn High School in Manassas became the first Northern Virginia school to install the technology.

Evolv Technology can screen up to 4,000 people per hour or 60 people per minute or more than a person each second, according to the website. Students are not required to remove items from their bag before or pockets before going through. 

Using artificial intelligence, the machines can detect guns, knives and even vapes, according to Lateef.

He told WUSA9 elementary schools will not receive the scanners because weapons being brought in to the elementary schools haven't posed as big of an issue as they've seen in middle and high schools.

"Someone might say 'well you know we saw that shooting in Tennessee that happened but the systems are not going to stop someone from rolling in with an AR-15. They're just gonna walk right through that right?' This is a detection looking for things being hidden in pockets and backpacks primarily of our students," he said.

He told WUSA9 his biggest concern or rather disappointment, is that they're needed at all.

"It makes me feel like a failure. We should all feel like a failure. Society has failed at keeping weapons out of the hands of children – keeping our public safe from these random acts of violence. We haven't done enough to address why do students bring weapons to school," said Lateef.

He said the board members will officially vote on May 3, but it is expected to pass.

If it passes, he told WUSA9 you can expect to see the scanners installed at all Prince William County middle and high schools by the end of September.

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