Some New Hanover County school board members skeptical of AI program with vote looming

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - A day after the New Hanover County Board of Education hosted a town hall with the company overseeing an artificial intelligence pilot program, some board members expressed skepticism, saying they still have concerns of what the program could entail.

Eviden, which – if given the green light – would add AI software to the school district’s cameras, answered community members’ questions on Tuesday night in front of the school board. Board members asked questions, too, hoping to get more clarity on the program, which is the result of a $3.2 million grant the county received.

The pilot program is supposed to help with safety, spotting weapons, fights, smoke, and large groups of people moving at once, among other things. The idea is school administrators can respond to emergencies quickly. A full outline of the program can be found here.

County principals, almost unanimously, support the software, according to board members. It’s some of the people sitting on the board, though, that are hesitant to move forward.

“If I had to vote today, I’d probably vote against it,” Dr. Tim Merrick said. “There are too many unanswered questions, too many legitimate concerns that our parents have, and not enough promises for the benefits of it.”

Board member Pat Bradford said she wasn’t impressed by Eviden’s presentation, and questioned why the grant won’t actually supply the county with new cameras. The software also hasn’t been implemented in K-12 schools yet, being used at universities, ports, and airports, among other locations, to date.

Parents at the town hall expressed concerns about the cost of the program, its effectiveness, and how it could change schools’ environments – potentially making them seem more like prisons than places for learning. The funding would run for the first two years, and after that would cost the county roughly $300,000 for subscription fees.

Board member David Perry said he was “impressed by the bipartisan concern” over the program’s adoption, and believes it won’t help the district much due to its “out-of-the-box configuration.” He said he’s worried the New Hanover County Schools would have to turn on more intrusive features of the system after initially adopting it.

“There are simply too many red flags with this AI pilot program,” Perry said in a text message. “I will not risk unleashing “Big Brother” on generations of NHCS students until the N.C. General Assembly creates the safeguards we need for responsible use of this technology.”

Merrick questioned how much safer the software would really make New Hanover County’s schools, wondering if a student carrying a science project box, for example, could trigger a response from the AI technology.

Board member Pete Wildeboer, though, said the program can be a positive for the county, especially with responding to emergencies and keeping schools safe.

“That’s one big plus for me,” he said. “It would alert a principal or assistant principal, and we could interact and stop a possible dangerous situation happening at that time and not wait until after the fact.”

Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes said safety will always be a priority for the county, but said “the devil could be in the details” of this specific program. He said a vote is expected in the next week or two. If the program is approved, work on implementing it would begin immediately. In the meantime, he’s working to show board members the existing cameras the county has to give them a better idea of the current need.

“It’s a decision the board needs to wrestle with and make a decision about,” he said.

WECT reached out to Eviden for more information on the program, including footage of the software being used at other facilities. That request was not returned.