The Peoria Public Schools Board of Education declined to approve a contract for Evolveweapons-detection equipment on July 14, voting against the motion after a divided discussion over cost, data from a pilot and comparisons with other vendors.

The presentation to the board was led by Jill Lamond, vice president of education at Evolve, who described the product as a multilayered weapon- and bag-screening system that uses imaging and artificial intelligence to reduce false alarms and help staff spot potential threats. "Safety is not a thing. It's not a destination. It's a constant comprehensive approach to a layered security plan," Lamond said during the presentation.

Board members pressed for more operational detail, pilot data and written comparisons to competing systems before committing district funds. Director Demario Boone, who led the local pilot, said Evolve ran a four-day test at Richwoods High School in May and provided on-site data and a debrief; Evolve representatives said analytics are available in a portal and by administrative account. A board member noted the contract math presented during discussion: a first-year cost of about $161,462 and $108,776 for each of the following three years, producing a four-year total near $487,790 and an average annual cost near $121,948. The board discussed per-student implications and throughput during morning entries at large high schools.

Superintendent Dr. Courant said the district supported a multilayered approach to safety and encouraged board members to consider the proposal. Evolve representatives and district staff described features intended to limit false positives, expedite entry with a bag x-ray workflow and provide ongoing software updates as part of an "as-a-service" agreement.

Board members disagreed about whether they had sufficient time and materials to evaluate competing systems. Several members said a comparative spreadsheet and other documents were emailed to the board the prior Friday; others said they had not seen the materials in time to make an informed choice.

On the motion to approve the Evolve contract the board recorded a failure; the chair announced the outcome as the motion failing after the roll call. No formal expenditure was approved and the agenda item concluded with no action taken.

What happens next: district staff said they would circulate the pilot data and the vendor comparison spreadsheet to the full board and that the item could return to a future meeting for reconsideration if requested.