[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6336821,"mediaKeyId","2279473-6790be9096ffeca1af45549cc57c929f","parentId",2279473,"title","MNPS board approves amendment to expand weapons-detection pilot; contract for system integration passes 9-0","audioSeconds",5647,"startMs",4279000,"endMs",9926000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2279473-6790be9096ffeca1af45549cc57c929f&start=4279&end=9926","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2279473-6790be9096ffeca1af45549cc57c929f/thumbnail_4279000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6336821/Tennessee/MNPS-board-approves-amendment-to-expand-weapons-detection-pilot-contract-for-system-integration-passes-9-0","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6336821-adde3c416bdc82918d250525f9468ef9/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202877&Signature=mIbejzQqfQrTyxabTyFBSjDLXyIsoYChp6CvUK4Got0oC2WreynOUeJKNCv2yTknF7SblTN-2BeNA-xl05t-7Tbf8FAt~L8OmAY2SQdvWlPG8eHG-iVZpnSRJevaHW~7625oTvzJO~FrFYh1PEpmx2VIY0l2uuRGdv5AjUlst294FpXaax8v~npPMm5rNUouSprUnDbobZNRDpbQNG0M2Gp0rBm9eQNikDi~ywSd~6MnnS4wiA8PZYKuMl2C57jgFmhXdwcxZimnEdcENyZAEcv0E3Xp2SKdSyEFQJ1LYGy40uxOIcq9uhcFPOHMpCZ1t83CTi0qbzmGAxQA-OtZgg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of Nashville, TN","date","2025-02-12T14:08:07Z","article","The Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board of Education unanimously approved a contract amendment Monday to expand a pilot deployment of concealed-weapons detection systems in MNPS high schools and to procure related camera integrations.

The motion to consider and approve the system-integration contract amendment was moved by board member Young and seconded by board member Taylor; the roll-call vote recorded nine ayes and no dissent. \"Chair Player votes aye. Madam Chair, 9 ayes,\" the clerk announced after a full roll-call.

Director Doctor Battle framed the purchase as an additional layer in a multi-layered safety approach that already includes badge access, vestibules, classroom locks, cameras, canine detection teams and expanded school resource officer coverage. The board was shown details of the systems proposed: AI-assisted concealed-weapon detectors manufactured by Evolv and procured through Motorola as part of an existing systems-integration contract (the district will also link alerts to the district's Avigilon camera control center). District staff told the board the initial procurement was issued via a broader services RFP released April 15, 2024, and that the vendor selection flowed from a competitive process and a board-approved contract dated Jan. 25, 2024.

District staff described differences between traditional metal-detector magnetometers and the AI-based concealed-weapon systems. Jill Lamont, vice president of education at Evolv, told the board \"it's not a perfect science\" but said the company fleet (more than 6,000 units globally) and continuous software updates let the system learn and reduce unnecessary alerts. Lamont said the pilot site has seen alert/secondary-screening rates \"less than 10%\" on typical days; district staff and vendor representatives noted some days with lower rates (one MNPS official cited figures near 7%). The district said secondary screenings often pick up nonthreat items such as eyeglass cases, laptops and container shapes; no weapons had been found during the Antioch pilot described in the presentation.

Procurement and rollout details presented to the board included: equipment, installation and training to be funded from district sources; an intended phased deployment with roughly two schools receiving installation per week to allow for troubleshooting; school-by-school determinations of \"single-lane\" or \"dual-lane\" entry configurations based on campus layout and enrollment; and staff training two weeks before each school goes live. District staff said initial staffing at pilot schools involved several staff per lane but that the required staffing level dropped quickly as operations matured. The board also heard that the contract document reviewed showed recurring equipment costs (the contract figure cited in discussion was approximately $1,250,000 per year for the high-school scope, exclusive of any additional staffing or ancillary costs).

Board members and members of the public pressed for implementation safeguards: accuracy and sensitivity settings of the AI models, worst-case scenarios (including reference to 3-D-printed weapons), FTC settlement history involving vendor marketing claims, student privacy and equity concerns, traffic and bus-unloading logistics, and communications to families. Chief of Operations Sue Sullivan, MNPS operations staff and vendor representatives answered questions about the pilot at Antioch High School, the vendor training program (which includes supervised tests and sensitivity tuning), and how district teams planned to minimize disruption during arrival.

Several public commenters urged immediate districtwide deployment and urged the board to act quickly; others urged caution, additional transparency, or investments in mental-health and threat-assessment programs as complementary strategies. The board approved the amendment on a 9-0 roll call after an extended Q&A and public comment period.

Actions recorded in the meeting materials show the motion was moved by member Young, seconded by member Taylor, and passed by roll call with the following recorded votes: Taylor (aye), Sellrod (aye), Young (aye), Vice Chair Nabata McKinney (aye), Fain (aye), Mays (aye), O'Hara Block (aye), Taylor (aye), Chair Player (aye).

District staff said they will return to the board with school-level implementation plans, communications for families, and any proposed expansions to middle and elementary schools subject to additional funding and evaluation of the high-school rollout.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","02/11/25 MNPS Board of Education","oneSentenceSummary","The Metro Board approved an amendment to its systems integration contract to purchase and install concealed-weapons detection equipment for high schools, expanding a pilot at Antioch and authorizing procurement tied to an existing vendor agreement.","taxTitle","Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, School Districts, Tennessee","taxId",69334,"location","Tennessee","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6336826,"MNPS cites national-level gains on Harvard/Stanford education recovery scorecard",1552,2010000,3562000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2279473-6790be9096ffeca1af45549cc57c929f&start=2010&end=3562","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2279473-6790be9096ffeca1af45549cc57c929f/thumbnail_2010000.jpg","/articles/6336826/Tennessee/MNPS-cites-national-level-gains-on-HarvardStanford-education-recovery-scorecard","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6336826-c8efd60cd471893f805a4126af1fa567/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202877&Signature=LTdliP2UURENPRI5Gf8h0FSX1XftrGYUBluVh1~KVTY9Y7nB22NxbGPLUhJaCkj3A8CcdKsNX8vgpFRghu2ENgFX-YNE6Cwv6ZKJ3Bm--KOrBGd5yaaI3INJWWISede9ZmoFvCWSChTCuyHMBnnXZueyzeILI7y2iRVilk~wnPM4VRpbsnmhvG0lk0vk66QjnqhT~cP6jpyhBoLHFbnzCmgYgjFPJyQQtHa4JbpPfrL66t0BBf2OkFAHQ5z-K5ZOSDG4u1akvZsCQCe-PM3d8wyqlXE-Fe8gylQWD7nK2oEmioVtXF16Cyp9nozqOnlThpxFGZYray9iIHGpnZ4~8Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools reported measurable post-pandemic learning gains Monday after district leaders presented findings from the Education Recovery Scorecard, a collaborative analysis by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard and the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford.

\"Our students and educators have demonstrated remarkable resilience, and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools has emerged as a national leader in academic recovery,\" Director Doctor Battle said as she introduced the district's summary of the scorecard and related National Assessment of Educational Progress results.

The scorecard compares districts using a common scale tied to NAEP (the National Assessment of Educational Progress) and expresses recovery as ‘‘grade-level’’ progress. Doctor Paul Changus, who presented the technical overview, told the board the study used data from 43 states and more than 8,700 school districts and used 2022 as the post-pandemic baseline because 2021 data were uneven across states. \"This is a collaborative effort between Harvard and Stanford,\" Changus said, explaining the study's methodology.

Key findings presented to the board: MNPS ranked fourth among the 100 largest urban school districts in the nation for mathematics recovery since 2022 (about 0.69 grade levels, roughly two-thirds of a grade level) and ninth for reading/recovery (about 0.24 grade levels, roughly one-quarter of a grade level). By contrast, the national averages reported in the same analysis were substantially lower: roughly 0.11 grade levels in math and a decline in reading over the last two years in the national aggregate. Tennessee's statewide gains were reported at about 0.36 grade levels in math and 0.13 in reading; MNPS' reported gains exceeded those state averages.

Presenters cautioned that the pandemic’s effects were uneven. The scorecard shows larger setbacks and slower recovery in districts with higher shares of economically disadvantaged students; the district presentation noted that achievement gaps remain and that higher-income districts were more likely to have recovered. Director Battle and Changus emphasized that federally funded pandemic relief (ESSER) and targeted local initiatives — including investments in high-quality instructional materials, leadership development, targeted tutoring and the district’s Scholars Portfolio — were cited in the report as contributing to recovery.

Board members asked for additional materials and the underlying charts. Changus said NAEP provides the only national common scale and that MNPS can supply the district-level charts and disaggregations; he identified 28 MNPS schools that were in the NAEP 2024 sample. Board members also probed whether the district’s progress predated 2022; presenters said local data show recovery activity beginning earlier, and that MNPS made gains in 2022 as well.

The presentation listed several district strategies the presenters and researchers recommended other districts continue or expand: sustained academic catch-up programs (for example, high-dosage tutoring), stronger attendance efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism, clear communications to parents when children are not at grade level, and ongoing local evaluation partnerships (MNPS cited collaborations with Vanderbilt University and internal rapid-response research). The superintendent and board members framed those steps as critical to converting short-term relief spending into long-term operating investments.

Board members praised classroom teachers, principals and system leaders for the gains and requested that MNPS make the report’s data and the district’s charts available to the public and to elected officials to support future funding decisions.

The board took no formal vote on the report; presenters said they would provide the detailed charts and data visualizations to board members and publish links to the scorecard materials for public review.","Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools leaders told the school board that MNPS ranked among the top 10 large U.S. districts for learning recovery since 2022, with math gains stronger than reading, citing a new Education Recovery Scorecard coordinated by researchers at Harvard and Stanford.","actionData","errors"]

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MNPS board approves amendment to expand weapons-detection pilot; contract for system integration passes 9-0

MNPS cites national-level gains on Harvard/Stanford education recovery scorecard