SMITHFIELD, N.C. (WNCN) – The Johnston County Public School System is in the process of installing weapons detection technology at every single district school.

The scanners are already up and running at some schools. The district’s Executive Director of Communications, Caitlin Furr, said all schools will have them installed by the start of next school year.

“These are pretty much state-of-the-art systems that detect weapons as students enter our schools,” Furr said.

Each school will have a scanner at the main entrance in the security vestibule (lobby) and one at the entrance for students coming in off the bus.

The scanners at the main entrance are from Evolv and the ones at the bus entrance are from OPENGATE.

Students do not need to empty out their pockets. CBS 17 tested the OPENGATE scanner –phones and keys do not set it off.

“We really wanted something in our entrances that’s not going to create a bottleneck, it’s not going to slow students down,” Furr said. “This is about safety and also functionality.”

Laptops do set off the scanner, however.

Furr said students will be trained to hand Chromebooks to administrators before they walk through.

The scanners at the front entrance will come with a tablet that shows what the scanner is seeing.

“If someone walks through that it says they have something on their person that they shouldn’t, it will be pinpointed on that individual, we’ll have them step aside, we’ll search them,” Furr said.

Furr said designated staff such as administrators and school resource officers in each school will be trained in the technology.

The OPENGATE scanners are portable so Furr said the district can have multiple at large events if necessary.

Nicole Collier has a 3rd and 7th grader in the district, and while she’s never felt like her kids were in danger at school, she’s glad the district is installing the technology.

“I think it’s something that’s just needed in this world and if something were to happen and a kid brought something in, I think we’d have a lot of regrets if we didn’t take that extra step, just to be cautious, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious,” Collier said.

The school board approved about $6.8 million in November for both types of scanners. Furr said there is no reoccurring cost associated with the technology.

Also, as part of the district’s efforts to enhance safety and security, Furr said the district received a grant from the NC Center for Safer Schools to have a school resource officer in every school full time.