Oakwood has installed the same system as the Greene County school district, allowing visitor tracking in all school buildings.
Kettering is implementing a different one, but both systems can flag potentially problem visitors, including criminals, officials said.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Centerville last year put in place a system that compares visitor IDs with a national database of registered sex offenders and tracks others upon the district’s request. But it lacks AI capabilities, according to the district.
Bellbrook and Oakwood are using technology by Verkada, a 7-year-old business with 16 offices across throughout the world, according to its website.
Local officials said it’s “cutting-edge” and provides “real-time knowledge” of visitors’ locations.
It requires a driver’s license or another state-issued ID for visitors who go beyond the main office, Oakwood Superintendent Neil Gupta said.
The “added layer of security allows us to do (a) soft background check,” Gupta said. “When they run that through, the security is also integrated with the cameras we have installed. The cameras have some artificial intelligence that helps track the visitors are going throughout the building.”
Older systems do not have those two elements integrated, allowing officials to watch cameras but without a tracking system, officials said.
The background checks can provide information such as if a visitor has a criminal history, Bellbrook-Sugarcreek and Oakwood officials said.
Bellbrook-Sugarcreek officials “feel as though the system gives great peace of mind to our students, staff and families and gives them an assured feeling of safety knowing there are several layers of protection before anyone can just walk into any of our buildings,” district communications coordinator Henry Conte told the Dayton Daily News.
“Real-time knowledge of who is in our buildings – and where they are – is a wonderful tool of this technology,” he added.
The systems also include enhanced access control for all doors, officials from both districts said.
Centerville and Kettering contracted with Raptor Technologies, a Houston-based business founded in 2002 that specializes in school security.
Kettering’s visitor management system looks for sex offenders, those involved custody rights issues, and can be customized for student and guardian databases, Jeff Johnson, the district’s business services director, said in an email.
Permitted visitors are given a badge with their picture on it, he added.
“The cameras are on a separate system,” Johnson said. “They do have AI technology that will give Kettering schools the capability of weapon detection.
“Once cameras are installed, this AI technology will be our next step in our security plan,” he said.
Kettering improvements also involve exterior door access, interior and exterior cameras, walkie talkies and exterior LED lights, Johnson has said.
The four districts paid for the systems with the help of state grants, much of which awarded this year after Gov. Mike DeWine announced more than $42 million going to the 600-plus public school districts in the state.
Kettering schools spent about $1.1 million to beef up security at all 12 district school buildings, Johnson said.
Bellbrook-Sugarcreek’s system cost about $800,000, an estimated of $200,000 coming from the state, Conte said.
Oakwood used more than $257,000 in grant funds to upgrade its system, said Traci Hale, community relations director. The total cost of the system is still being calculated, she added.
Centerville used a $42,000 grant, according to district spokeswoman Sarah Swan.
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