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Chandler Unified presents layered school-safety plan, shares threat-assessment and monitoring data
Summary
District staff outlined a layered approach to campus safety—visitor management, upgraded camera software with AI features, a rapid-alert system, and expanded student supports—and presented recent threat-assessment and tip-line data to the governing board.
Dr. Dela Torre, a district staff member and presenter, told the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board on Oct. 8 that the district is pursuing a layered approach to school safety that combines physical security, upgraded camera systems, rapid alert tools and expanded student supports.
"If they don't feel safe at school, it's gonna make it more difficult for them to learn," Dr. Dela Torre said, summarizing the district's rationale for combining equipment, people and student services.
The presentation listed several near-term and ongoing efforts. The district said it is about halfway through required five-year threat vulnerability assessments for all campuses and is transitioning its video-recording software from Ocularis to a product called Access, which staff said offers clearer footage, longer retention and potential integrations with AI-assisted anomaly detection. The district also said it has applied for a COPS grant to help fund camera upgrades in higher-need areas.
Staff described a plan to pilot a rapid-alert and visitor-management system called Raptor. Dr. Dela Torre told the board the Raptor alert app or badge can "triangulate where they're at within 10 feet," enabling more rapid campus responses and providing a reunification workflow to check students in and out after evacuations. The district also discussed visitor kiosks that produce badges and cross-check check-ins against national registries.
District officials reviewed behavioral- and health-focused measures the district is using alongside security technology. Counseling and social-work staff are increasing supports, and the district has added a site-based prevention liaison at each campus who uses the annual Arizona Youth Survey and other data to design quarter-by-quarter lessons on topics including bullying prevention, conflict resolution and digital citizenship. Staff said a tiered intervention model routes universal interventions at Tier 1, targeted supports at Tier 2 and intensive services at Tier 3.
Dr. Dela Torre gave local operational data the board can use to assess implementation and risk. Key figures presented: - Threat assessments: 128 completed last year with six classified as substantive; 37 completed in the first quarter of the current school year, with two classified as substantive. - Tip lines: 21 Lightspeed reports in 2024–25; 9 reports so far in 2025–26 after Lightspeed’s tip-line product moved to the vendor Stop It (six at high schools, three at junior highs). - Online filtering/monitoring: staff said the district recorded roughly 7,000 online alerts across the reviewed period (spanning the second semester of the previous school year and the first quarter of the current year), with 30 judged imminent and others labeled high risk, valid but unlikely, or no concern after review. - Discipline events: one quarterly snapshot showed 2,885 events; staff said extrapolating that quarter to a full year would put the district well below the prior year’s totals and that the district is tracking a multiyear downward trend in incident counts.
Board members asked for clarifications. Board member Michael Heap asked that incident counts be normalized by enrollment so the district can see event rates rather than raw totals; Dr. Dela Torre agreed that normalization and year-over-year comparisons would be useful. Board member Tom Morris asked for a clearer definition of "minor aggressive acts;" staff explained these are behaviors short of assault (recklessness, disorderly conduct or rough play) that can escalate to bullying if not addressed.
Several staff and board members emphasized documentation and transparency. Dr. Dela Torre described efforts to simplify explanation of Title IX reporting and supportive measures for families via one-page documents, videos and flowcharts; the district also has an investigator in human resources dedicated to Title IX and related complaints.
No formal policy or purchase motions were made at the study session; the presentation informed future decision-making and potential grant-funded purchases. Staff said purchases tied to grants (for example, camera upgrades if a COPS grant is awarded) and any deployment of third-party systems that share camera access with first responders would be managed through existing procurement and privacy safeguards and would be logged and limited to emergency monitoring.
The district signaled next steps rather than immediate board votes: finish the outstanding threat vulnerability assessments, continue vendor evaluations for cameras and visitor-management systems, pursue the COPS grant, and provide normalized incident metrics and disaggregated data (for example, events per student and counts per student where repeat incidents occur) at future meetings.
Staff and board members said community-facing resources and school-level advisory groups will be used to collect further qualitative input from students and families about perceived safety and adult supports on campus.
