COLUMBIA − Hickman High School will test a weapons detection system starting Monday until winter break, according to an email Thursday from Superintendent Brian Yearwood.
Yearwood wrote that Hickman is implementing the Evolv system until winter break begins on Dec. 21, so district staff can continue learning about it.
Columbia Public Schools tested the Evolv system in the spring at Hickman due to student requests.
“The selection of Hickman High School for a longer trial period this year is in continued response to this student voice,” Yearwood said.
The system consists of two detection pillars and is not intrusive, according to Yearwood.
“It is free-flow and touchless and does not require stopping or pat downs,” Yearwood wrote. “This system is used by professional sporting venues and is also currently being used by other entities in our community.”
Yearwood says the district has not yet committed to the installation of Evolv, but it is being considered for all CPS high schools. District staff are also discussing how the system would be funded.
Hickman senior Micah Robinson was there when the district tested the Evolv system in the spring. She believes it can make the school safer.
“I feel like it would help our students feel safer and feel more welcome coming into the school without having to hesitate about school shootings happening or students threatening other students with guns inside the school or even around the school,” Robinson said.
Robinson said it did slow students down when they tested the system, and that some were late to class, but she said it will “help protect the students but at the same time I think it will make everybody late.”
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Jeanne Snodgrass, vice president of the Columbia School Board, visited Hickman when they tested the system in the spring.
She pointed out the wholistic approach to enhancing school security.
“I think it’s important that we’re investing in a lot of different ways to approach security. We know it’s not going to be a one size fits all,” she said.
Snodgrass also said feedback is important to her as a board member.
“I’m interested in feedback from students, I’m interested in feedback from the administration, and from our teachers after this longer demo period,” Snodgrass said.
In the meantime, Yearwood said the district is in the process of selecting a vendor for a visitor management system, as well as implementing an alert system provided by the state.
The visitor management system will be able to better identify individuals who have trespassed or are banned from school campuses. It will be funded by a grant from the state, Yearwood said.
The alert system aims to streamline emergency response by allowing teachers and school staff to initiate an alert through their cell phone or computer.
The Columbia School Board will also consider an agreement with MU’s Prevention Science Institute at its meeting Monday. The agreement would allow for the “expansion of monitoring of district-issued scholar devices and enhanced training for the district’s existing threat assessment teams,” Yearwood said in the email.
Editor’s Note
This story was updated Friday with information from a student and School Board member.