The Delicate Ethics of Using Facial Recognition in Schools
A growing number of districts are deploying cameras and software to prevent attacks. But the systems are also used to monitor students, and adult critics.
On a steamy evening in May, 9,000 people filled Stingaree Stadium at Texas City High School for graduation night. A rainstorm delayed ceremonies by a half-hour, but the school district’s facial recognition system didn’t miss a beat. Cameras positioned along the fenceline allowed algorithms to check every face that walked in the gate.
As the stadium filled with families, security staff in the press box received a notification that the system had spotted someone on their watchlist. It was a boy who had been expelled from the district and sent to a county disciplinary school, whose pupils are barred by district rules from visiting other campuses.
Less than 30 seconds after the boy sat down, a sheriff’s deputy asked for his name. When he replied, he was escorted from the stadium, and missed his sister’s graduation. “Mama was upset, but that’s the rules,” says Mike Matranga, executive director of security at Texas City Independent School District, on the shore of Galveston Bay south of Houston.
Matranga proudly relates the incident to show how facial recognition can make schools safer. It also shows how the nation’s schoolchildren have been thrust into a debate over the CONTINUE READING: The Delicate Ethics of Using Facial Recognition in Schools | WIRED