High School District to Pump $600k into Smarter Surveillance System

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/01/19

The board of a California school system has approved funding to replace legacy security camera gear. West Sonoma County Union High School District awarded the $602,948 contract to Integrated Security Controls, a regional solution provider.

According to local reporting, the Santa Rosa company will be installing 96 cameras at three high schools, Analy, El Molino and Laguna, as well as software with analytics that will enable administrators to view what's happening at their schools.

During the meeting where the approval was given, facilities manager Jennie Bruneman told the board that the previous camera system was "very difficult to use," forcing users to manually look through footage to find what they needed. With the new equipment, users will be able to search on specific details — "a student wearing a ball cap and a red shirt" — and the analytics will identify that individual as he or she moves around the campus.

The Integrated Security solution was chosen after a pilot project that tested two companies' systems. The specific equipment being installed comes from Avigilon, a Motorola Solutions company.

The camera installation is expected to be done by the end of September, Bruneman told the board.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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