Have additional questions? Email them to staffnews@whqr.org — or attend next week's town hall (details below).
Q: What does the program and the technology actually do?
A: According to Barnes, the program used AI to monitor surveillance camera feeds for a few key issues: crowd surging — say, for example, dozens of students who all start running, or converge suddenly — smoke and fire, people falling, or weapons being brandished. The administration would be able to turn different functions on and off.
“The goal of the system is to find ways to ensure that it cuts down our response time for issues and crises in a building. And this camera system can do lots of different things, but basically what it does is it uses artificial intelligence to help track things that a principal would want to know about in a building,” Barnes said.
Barnes said while approving the grant was up to the board, if it is greenlit, the details of the program would be up to him and his staff. That includes decisions about which features to turn on. In response to concerns about the facial recognition function, Barnes said it would be turned off. However, he noted that there could be a situation where the “immediate safety” of students was in danger, where he would do anything in his power to address the situation. A serious decision like that, though, would not be left up to an individual principal, Barnes said.
The program will likely roll out in one elementary, one middle, and one high school. In some cases, Barnes said the existing cameras will need to be updated.
Q: Where did the program come from?
A: The pilot was first put forward in legislation from 2023, but a finalized version was part of the Helene relief bill passed in late November last year (the bill was heavily criticized for containing pet projects, among other things).
The bill provides funding for a pilot program in two counties — $3.2 million in New Hanover and $2 million in Davidson.
The bill’s language required both counties to use the same vendor, determined by whichever local government approved a contract first. In early February, Davidson County’s school board considered two companies, ultimately voting in favor of Eviden, a tech company based in France. The chair and vice-chair of the Davidson County school board have not responded to questions about their decision, including the other company that submitted a proposal.
Davidson’s decision means while New Hanover County can still opt out of the grant-funded pilot, if it goes forward it must do so with Eviden.
Q: Can the money be used for anything else?
A: If NCHS declined to accept the grant, the state could conceivably reappropriate the money — but NHCS can only use the money for the AI pilot. Several noted that it was essentially another tool to use their existing surveillance equipment. Currently, staff often end up reviewing footage — sometimes with a magnifying glass due to lower image quality — after the fact, because there is nowhere near the staff that would be needed to monitor all cameras. Many were excited about a preemptive tool at their disposal.
Q: How does NHCS’ administrative staff feel about it?
A: Barnes said he convened a meeting of principals with school board members. Barnes said administrators had largely positive feedback for the program.
Q: Following the ransom attack on PowerSchool, there have been many concerns about data security. Will Eviden share data?
A: Barnes said Eviden will allow the district to save any data locally on site.
Q: Is this creating a surveillance state? Will it have a negative impact on students?
A: Barnes said “I don’t think that it would be much different than if I hired 40 staff members to monitor cameras every day, every minute, or place them in the building strategically.”
Barnes added that “I also know that if you’ve been to a concert, if you’ve been to a big arena or a big venue, that’s happening already.”
Eviden has touted its work assisting with the 2024 Olympics, among other major events.
Q: Is there a ticking clock or external pressure involved with the AI pilot program
A: Barnes said that, while it was important to gather information, the district needed to “either fish or cut bait.”
Asked whether there had been any legislative pressure to move the process long, Barnes said it was more that the district was already more than a year into this.
“This pilot is happening, right? If we don’t want to pilot it, I think that decision is fine, but I do think we owe it to everyone to make a decision, either move forward or stop and allow the state to make that decision if they want to do that grant somewhere else,” Barnes said.
Q: If NHCS runs the pilot, and then decides not to continue it when state funding runs out, will there be costs to “unwind” or “uncouple” the program?
A: Barnes said he hadn’t heard any discussion of winding down the program.
“Are they going to come and take their cameras back? I have not heard that. But again, it's going to cost them as much money to take them back as it would be just to leave them. So if we chose not to use the cost of maintaining the program, we still have the hardware, and if they take it back, we're still no further behind than we were two years ago, when we have cameras already,” he said.
Q: Would a US-based company be preferable to a foreign-owned one? Does the role of Mia Budd, a niece by marriage of Republican Senator Tedd Budd, at Eviden play a role in the decision?
A: Barnes noted that debate over a foreign-based or US-based firm was essentially negated by Davidson’s decision. Public speakers did voice concerns about a foreign-base company being chosen, but the school board there ultimately decided Eviden had made the stronger proposal.
Likewise, since NHCS has no choice of which vendor to use, Budd's involvement with Eviden plays little role — though it's worth noting there's been no evidence that the Senator played any role in Davidson's choice.
Q: How can I learn more?
A: NHCS is holding a town hall on Tuesday, March 18 at 6 p.m. at the Board of Education center, located at 1805 S. 13th Street in downtown Wilmington. Representatives from Eviden will be available to answer questions.
