This is between a 3 and a 4. I'm still not really sure how I feel about this. And, in the aftermath of the George Floyd death, I'm thinking that maybe this isn't all that far off the beaten path as I first thought. So, here's the basic premise- a high school, which can't even give its students novels to read, invests in the high security system of students coming through detector machines before entering the school. This in itself is not my issue (although it does show that it takes away from classtime trying to get everyone through the system). I think the fact that the security which were outsourced were absolute jerks to kids and there was a lot of secrets attached to the whole system in place. The reason that I had a hard time with that is because my high school is no where near anything like that. Our security has a good relationship on the whole with our student body, and the only similar security is for those entering the building after school has begun.
But I see that my world is very different and possibly not to be considered the norm. I also think that while maybe the cowardice of the school adults is possibly overreached (again, I could be on the opposite of things), I don't doubt that sometimes school districts choose to institutionalize rather than invest in the students.
I may re-read this book since the exposure of police brutality is still cracking open and see if I have different opinions of the book, now. But just know that there are public schools out there that are not in the rich parts of the county and are still invested in the kids and education. I just don't think there are as many as I originally thought.