Local tech company adds additional security layer at Marion County Schools

FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Marion County Board of Education has approved a plan to add facial recognition technology at facilities throughout the district.

A team including law enforcement, school officials and Morgantown-based Rank One Computing plan to implement the technology as soon as possible.

Morgantown-based Rank One Computing provides facial, object and text recognition algorithms to U.S. military, law enforcement and corporations and opened on the Morgantown WVU campus at Vantage Ventures in June. CEO and West Virginia native Scott Swann said they would use local organizations as a proving ground for their technology and Marion County schools are the first.

“How can we get some of this technology on the hands of locals and allow them to build their businesses around that and we thought schools were a great place to start,” Swann said.

Marion County Schools Superintendent Dr. Donna Hage said the technology will be paired with the building safety audit program announced recently by Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Riffle. The audit will produce online images of all buildings that would be available to first responders in real-time if an emergency were to occur.

Hage also said recent events across the country have put them in a more proactive mindset.

“We developed this with experts in the field- the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, Marion County Department of Homeland Security and Rank One,” Dr. Hage said. “We are bringing together ideas and solutions to concerns our families, leaders, students and teachers are seeing unfold.”

The technology will be installed on existing security equipment in buildings and will have access to worldwide information. Swann said it would be up to school officials to determine what databases would be used to cross check images.

“If someone might be on a wanted or warrant list were to try to enter a school, or someone who has caused a lot of problems or been expelled we can quickly call the right people,” Swann said.

Currently, school visitors are directed to the main office of a school where a sign in process occurs. School workers verify the ID and time of visit….