School board approves Moline Police request to site first-responder drone dock on high school roof

The Moline-Coal Valley School District Board of Education voted unanimously July 28 to approve a memorandum of understanding with the City of Moline to permit the Moline Police Department to site a first-responder drone dock on the roof of Moline High School.

The agreement would allow the police department to place a Skydio drone dock — a weather‑controlled, automated housing unit — on about 16 square feet of rooftop space on Moline High School. The dock and drone were purchased by the city; the district agreed to provide roof access, a small power supply and an internet port to connect the dock to the department’s systems.

The MOU matters locally because the dock would expand the police department’s ability to deploy an autonomous drone “beyond visual line of sight” under an FAA agency authorization, covering roughly a three‑mile radius from the high school, the police presentation said. That coverage, combined with a dock at the police department, is intended to extend response coverage across much of the city for a limited set of emergency uses.

Chief (Moline Police Department) described the dock and operation in detail to the board. “This is the item that I’m asking for approval from the Board of Education to place on top of…