South Williamsport Area School District Superintendent Dr. Eric Briggs is joined by members of the Moose Club as they present him with a donation toward the district's ZeroEyes gun detection initiative. Photo Credit: Jessica Watson

The South Williamsport Area School District’s efforts to enhance securities across its three campuses received a major boost as the local Moose Club presented a check for $750 to cover added costs of the district’s newly introduced ZeroEyes initiative Saturday afternoon.

Formed in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting by current and former military members, ZeroEyes is an AI-based gun detection software that scans more than 200 cameras across the district for unholstered gun-consistent shapes.

Once detected, the flagged images are relayed to a team of human experts who confirm the existence of a weapon and alert school officials.

The initial system was paid for by a PCCD Grant, which carried an allotment of 10 individuals to receive alerts.

The money donated by the Moose will be used to add the South Williamsport Police Department as an additional party to receive the alerts, speeding up response times, should an incident occur.

“The district would like to thank the South Williamsport Moose Club for their generous donation in support of our efforts to implement the ZeroEyes weapons detection system by covering the expense for our local law enforcement agencies to have administrative access to our system,” district Superintendent Dr. Eric Briggs said in a statement emailed to the Sun-Gazette.

“This contribution underscores the Moose Club’s unwavering commitment to the safety and well-being of our students and staff. Their partnership is invaluable as we take proactive steps to enhance security measures within our schools, providing an added layer of protection and fostering a more secure learning environment,” he continued.

“We are truly appreciative of the South Williamsport Moose Club’s community spirit and their investment in the safety of our children,” the statement concluded.

“I was so fascinated by that whole system that I asked him to send me more information so I can take that back to my own Lodge and see if we want to do something with our local schools there,” said Robert Funkey, chairman of the Moose International, Inc. Board of Directors, who resides in Michigan.

“This lodge is very, very involved in the school, especially the sports programs, supporting the various sports teams, child ID kits with the schools to make sure that the kids can be identified if there’s kidnapping or a missing child and things like that, so they are always doing things with the local schools, so when they were approached by the school, and asked if they would be interested in participating with this program, they said ‘yes,'” Funkey said.