The familiar rhythm of a Gwinnett County school morning — the shuffle of backpacks, the buzz of teenage chatter, the scent of cafeteria breakfast — is about to gain a new, silent partner.
Starting this fall, students entering middle and high schools in Gwinnett County won’t just be greeted by school resource officers or hall monitors. They’ll walk through security portals designed to detect concealed firearms and other weapons. It’s not science fiction — it’s the 2025-26 school year.
Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia’s largest district, is rolling out its most advanced security measure yet: the Evolv weapons detection system. The scanners, piloted last year at stadiums and gyms, will now be deployed across all secondary campuses. District officials say the program is the result of years of planning, dubbing it a “proactive approach” to school safety.
Using low-frequency electromagnetic fields and artificial intelligence, the scanners are designed to distinguish between everyday items and potential threats. They are capable of identifying a gun without flagging a phone, for example. The goal is to detect danger while allowing students to pass through without delays or intrusive searches.
But Evolv is just one part of the district’s layered security system.
There are currently 123 school resource officers assigned throughout the district — two per high school, one per middle school, and additional officers for elementary campuses. More security guards are expected to join while the district continues its search for qualified officers.
More than 11,000 security cameras monitor hallways and parking lots, and their feeds can be accessed in real time by law enforcement during emergencies. Visitors must pass through secure vestibules and have their identities checked against the National Sex Offender Registry through the Raptor system.
Preparedness drills — lockdowns and fire evacuations — are now routine. Every staff member wears a CrisisAlert badge from Centegix, which can silently signal emergencies and provide precise locations. Stop the Bleed kits have been stocked for more than a decade, stationed alongside AEDs. Even school buses carry them. Narcan, the overdose-reversal nasal spray, is now available at all high schools and carried by trained staff and officers, to combat the ongoing opioid crisis.
The district’s culture of safety also includes community engagement. The GCPS Tips app allows students, parents and community members to report concerns anonymously. Reports can include photos, videos or documents and even enable two-way conversations with trained personnel monitoring the app around the clock.
These layers represent what officials call a continued commitment to safety. But this fall, as students walk through the Evolv scanners, the message will be unmistakable: School safety in Gwinnett has entered a new era.
Textbooks and Chromebooks will still fill backpacks, but those backpacks will now be scanned for weapons. And school hallways, once solely places of learning, are now fortified by design.
Welcome back to school.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
