On Friday, Nov. 15, the Evolv systems will increase in sensitivity which is expected to cause delays and students being late to first-period classes. Mansfield ISD Director of Safety, Security and Threat Management Britney Fortner believes the changes will increase student safety on campus.
“While changes may seem burdensome, it is important that we as a district, evolve (no pun intended) with the technology that we invest in,” Ms. Fortner said. “While there may be an adjustment for students in the beginning having to pull out binders with their laptops, the goal is to allow students the ability to continue carrying the tools they need to be successful while also creating a safer environment. I do not foresee an impact on teachers in the morning.”
The “drop method” used at Legacy for students to pass their computers around by setting them on a table parallel to the Evolv system will continue even with these new changes. However, students will now set any zipperless binders, eyeglass cases and umbrellas with their computers. The eyeglass cases must be open when put on the table to allow a teacher or administrator to check them.
“We have found common items that the Evolv system alerts on, such as metal eyeglass cases and umbrellas, but the three-ring binders is a new one,” Ms. Fortner said. “Due to the composition of the binder, the machine identifies them as a possible item of concern. By allowing students to set down open binders that only have paper in them, we will eliminate that false alarm and reduce the number of backpacks that have to be checked.”
Senior Austin Galley believes the Evolv system proves unreliable because of the inconsistencies when detecting his backpack on different mornings.
“In the morning, I have been late a couple times because the line is crazy long, or I get searched when I didn’t the day before when I have the same things in my bag every day,” Galley said. “I think this new system is just going to cause more problems and create longer lines in the morning.”
At the beginning of the year, the “laptop pass” method allowed students to hand computers around to one teacher and get it from another on the other side of the Evolv.
“I think the school could go back to what they were doing at the start of the year, honestly it was more effective. Having multiple people searching could also help,” Galley said. “Overall, I think the intentions for it are obviously good, but I’m not even sure if the thing actually works half the time. I get buzzed about half the time and it wastes my time for nothing.”
Dr. Stephanie Bonneau, principal, prepared the campus for changes by sending out information from the district Wednesday morning and encouraging teachers to remind students of the new expectations during advisory.
“I imagine that initially through the first week there’ll be longer search table lines because we’re still going to be learning what causes it to trigger and what doesn’t,” Dr. Bonneau said. “Speaking from experience working a search table, we have a lot of students that carry their life in their backpack.”
Administration encourages students to clean out their backpacks and only carry the necessary items for school. This method will make getting through the Evolv more efficient with the changes.
“We’re going to do everything we can on this side. We’ll run two lanes until we get things leveled out,” Dr. Bonneau said. “The other thing I plan on doing is advertising that you can get a locker. I think some people just take their stuff on a field trip home every night. If you used a locker, you would not have to mess with all that stuff at Evolv every morning.”
The new changes to the Evolv will take some adjusting for students.
“The number one way for Evolv to run more efficiently is for students to be prepared when they get to the door and to remove any unnecessary items from their bags that may cause a false alert,” Ms. Fortner said. “For example, only bringing an umbrella when rain is expected, or switching to folders instead of a binder if possible. If students can test out their bags and figure out what causes the alerts through the process of elimination, things will run very smoothly.”
