FAIRMONT, W.Va (WDTV) – Marion County Schools are continuing to make sure that students are protected by adding in facial recognition and weapons detection technology in all county schools.
The move is part of a three-year project that will be rolled out in multiple phases.
“Facial recognition is one of those layers and most recently we have added a safety coordinator for Marion County schools,” said Superintendent Donna Heston. “We also have PRO’s and SOO’s in each one of our high school schools in Marion County. As well as serving our in larger middle schools in Marion County.”
The project is funded by a $3 million grant from the School Building Authority of West Virginia to increase the safety of school entrances.
Marion County Schools were the first in the state to add facial recognition to both their middle and high schools.
“We piloted that at one of our middle schools and have since added that to all of our schools,” said Heston. “In addition, we’ve added weapons detection at one of our high schools as another layer of protection that has multiple. We have had a collaborative effort between our enforcement to the experts in the field of safety and security.”
Official said they will be working with local agencies to ensure the safety of students.
“Just to make sure the schools are doing what we’ve asked them to do to make sure that the students still have a good learning experience and don’t feel confined or trapped within the schools,” said Jim Riffle. “We just hope to continue making a better place for the staff students and visitors.”
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