Students at FAME Academy at Brookhill Elementary use the new GoSafe temperature scanning devices placed in the school Tuesday. Each member institution of Athens City Schools now has a device on campus that can be used to read temperatures of students, teachers and any visitors.

Students, teachers and anyone else who might find themselves on campus of an Athens City Schools member institution now have another line of defense against COVID-19 and other illnesses.

On Tuesday, ACS had automatic portable temperature check devices placed on all but one campus in the system. According to Student Services Supervisor Mike O’Rear, the devices, known as GoSafes, are able to check the temperature of anyone who stands in front of them.

The GoSafes are made by Total Network Technologies, and O’Rear said members of TNT were on hand to set up the devices. They use an infrared thermometer and facial recognition software.

“We purchased these devices at the first of November,” O’Rear said. “They are not only helpful for helping stop the spread of COVID-19, but anything else that might cause a fever, like the flu or even a cold. It will give us the opportunity to recognize someone who is sick and not let them get around others.”

O’Rear said the four ACS elementary schools will work together to form a plan as to exactly how the GoSafes will be implemented for those students, while the high school and middle school will have individual plans.

He said Athens Intermediate School already has a device for temperature checks, and Athens High will use that device and the GoSafes. For now, students will not be required to use the devices, but that might be implemented in the future.

“Right now, it is a work in progress,” O’Rear said. “We wanted to see how well they function. We could use them in the future at basketball games and other school events where members of the public come in the schools.”

He said the GoSafes can do more than just read temperatures, too. They can connect to Wi-Fi and could be used to help keep student information. O’Rear said once ACS switches over to a new system of keeping student records, which has been mandated by the state for next school year, the devices could even be used to keep attendance by noting the students who use it as they enter the school.

“We might not go that far,” he said. We will be looking at that this summer.”

The City of Athens recently purchased similar devices to put at multiple buildings where it does business with the public, including City Hall.