MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will spend nearly $10 million on body scanners in all its middle and high schools.
Most of the area high schools already have body scanners.
At a school board meeting, interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh said middle schools will start seeing them in the first few months of the school year.
There were reports of long lines, learning curves, and skeptics’ when CMS first started its pilot program of body scanners.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: CMS adding body scanners to K-8, middle schools
"It's been taking some time obviously," Juan Torres Muñoz, the CMS Board Student Advisor said, "because it's a new technology."
Torres Munoz’s school was one of the first to have body scanners.
Hattabaugh said the technology will cost $9.9 million and include a four-year service subscription, and staff training.
"We will begin to finish out our seven large comprehensive high schools to expedite the scanning processes," Hattabaugh said. "And then we'll go to our middle 6-8, our specialty high schools, and lastly, our K-8 schools."
Board members asked for more.
“We have not talked about additional safety measures for elementary," Lenora Shipp, At-Large CMS Board Member said. "So I want us to look there closely because safety throughout the district is very important.”
While body scanners are in, clear backpacks are out.
Right now they’re on a government auction site. The highest bid as of Tuesday night was $51,000 -- only $1,000 above the starting bid and $1,000 lower than the minimum bid.
The district spent just around $442,000 on the backpacks.
Many students are glad they’re gone.
"They weren't asking if they thought it was a good idea," Torres Muñoz said. "If students had been part of that decision, it would have been different."
The backpack auction closes on June 18, according to the site.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.