Greece Central rolls out bag scanners and Ronin screening at Arcadia and Olympia; district says system reduced phone use and detected contraband

Deputy Superintendent Mark Fleming gave the board an update on the district’s new safety-screening system, which pairs battery-powered passage sensors (Ronin bollards) with Linnev AI X-ray bag scanners. Fleming said Arcadia Middle and Arcadia High were the first full implementations and Olympia completed rollout over two days.

Why it matters: The district framed the systems as a multi-layered approach intended to reduce contraband and improve safety and learning conditions by restricting phones and detecting weapons or other prohibited items before students enter buildings.

Fleming told the board, “This is not a traditional metal detector; instead it uses advanced technology to identify prohibited items such as firearms, knives, explosives” and said the district partnered with MIS Security (Ronin) and Linnev Systems (bag scanners) for the deployment. He showed X-ray images from tests and noted the AI highlights likely contraband and reports a likelihood percentage to the operator.

Fleming said the system has detected lighters, vapes and, at Olympia, a pepper-spray canister. He also said administrators reported a large number of phones confiscated at Arcadia during initial rollouts: “Principal Jones and his team confiscated 200 phones yesterday in their first rollout.” He said the use of locked Yondr pouches for cell phones has increased compliance with the statewide “distraction-free” school policy and improved classroom interactions: a veteran teacher told Fleming that after rollout she “only had to confiscate 1 phone, and for the rest of the day, I did not see any students with earbuds, with phones.”

Fleming described the student-flow pattern at Arcadia and how the bag scanner and passage sensors integrate into the vestibule and secondary screening rooms for follow-up checks. He said a phased roll-out continues: Arcadia Middle/High and Olympia are implemented; Athena, Odyssey and Phoenix will receive staggered rollouts in September.

Board members who attended parent information nights praised the district for outreach and answering safety concerns, including radiation and health-related questions about the devices. The board did not vote on new policy; Fleming said the rollout is an operational implementation of prior safety decisions.

The district did not provide a cost breakdown at the meeting; administrators said the rollout includes vendor support during initial days and then transitions to school-based staff.