Safety staff presents plan to pilot Extract1 gateway weapons-detection system at high schools

At the Morgan County Schools board meeting, a district safety and security staff member, Mister Boyd, outlined research into weapons-detection systems and described a plan to start with one detection gateway at each of the district’s five high schools, with a future goal of adding a second unit per high school and then extending coverage to lower grades.

The presentation matters because it describes the district’s approach to student screening and safety technology and proposes a multi-school pilot that would change arrival flow and security procedures.

Mister Boyd, who said he joined the school system after about 24 years in state and local law enforcement, told the board he examined Department of Homeland Security reporting and several companies’ systems. He said systems that rely on infrared or stationary cameras were not suitable for the district’s needs and that x‑ray scanners were prohibitively expensive and require annual registration. He described the Extract1 Technologies Gateway as a system engineered to “learn” item density and detect ferrometal displacement in ways that can be trained not to alarm on common items such as laptops or Chromebooks.

“We really wanted something that was going to be, very, less intrusive to our students,” Boyd said. “We wanted something that increased and allowed traffic flow to go in and out, without kids having to take items out of their backpacks.”

Boyd said the Extract1 gateway shows the location of detected metal on an operator display (for example, indicating whether detection is at an ankle, waist or in a backpack) and can be trained to distinguish common school items so they do not trigger audible alarms. He contrasted that with some other walk‑through systems that still require manual checks or expensive supplemental equipment.

On deployment, Boyd said the district plans to start with one Gateway unit at each of the five high schools and to work toward adding a second unit at each high school before moving down through lower grade levels. He said administrators and school resource officers (SROs) have discussed changes to building entry patterns that such a system would require and that the district would develop a full plan for placement and staffing.

Boyd did not provide a procurement timeline, vendor contract, or final cost estimate to the board during the presentation. He described the technology and pilot approach and said the district would return with a formal plan and funding details. The Department of Homeland Security report and product names Boyd cited were referenced during the presentation but no statute, regulation or formal policy change was proposed to the board at this meeting.

Board members asked no substantive policy-level questions on record beyond procedural matters of staging and staffing; staff indicated additional planning and coordination with SROs and school administrators would continue before any purchase or deployment.