Board tables plan to spend up to $500,000 from IT reserve on radios, metal detectors after cost debate

The Watertown City School District Board of Education paused consideration of a $500,000 security proposition after a lengthy presentation and questions from board members about cost, maintenance and community priorities.

Chris Flood, an engineer with Wells Communications and Bearcom, told the board the district’s planned upgrade would be a linked, capacity-plus Motorola digital radio system with eight repeaters at six locations and a convergence device (Motorola ION) for mobile data, voice and third‑party apps. Flood said the system would let staff “roam like a cell phone” across school sites, allow a districtwide emergency “site‑wide all call,” and offer encryption that limits scanner monitoring. He described radio models proposed for the quote (XPR 3500 handsets, R7 administrative radios, Motorola ION convergence devices) and mobile radios for building-and-grounds vehicles.

Flood noted long‑term service life for repeaters, warranty coverage and replacement cycles for batteries; he also identified optional annual maintenance that covers service calls and shipping costs to the factory. “You don’t have to worry about where people are sitting and what they’re doing. They can literally be anywhere in the district,” he said of the linked system.

Board members pressed for more detail on price and recurring costs. During the discussion, one member noted the quote included roughly 100 basic portables, a smaller number of higher‑end managerial radios and several ION devices; Flood confirmed a quoted line in the presentation that “a hundred of them is $74,000,” and he answered questions about a recurring maintenance line and a 172‑hour installation estimate. Several board members said the radios’ safety benefits were clear but questioned whether the district should spend that sum now instead of addressing other infrastructure needs.

Some trustees favored buying the Open Gate metal detectors described in the packet — board discussion repeatedly returned to the detectors as a lower‑cost, more narrowly targeted safety purchase — but board members said they wanted direct input from school safety officers, building principals and the district’s SROs before authorizing the full package for the ballot. One board member summarized the practical safety case: if improved communications “saves 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds for law enforcement, it’s worth every dime,” while others emphasized maintenance, replacement‑cycle and recurring cost concerns.

After the discussion the board moved to table a resolution that would have placed the security proposition on the May ballot and authorized spending up to $500,000 from the IT reserve to pay for security system upgrades (the district packet listed Open Gate metal detectors and the Motorola radio system). The motion to table passed.

Next steps: the board asked staff to arrange an April 1 meeting in which representatives from the security/safety committee, building principals and SROs would present operational needs and recommended configurations so trustees could evaluate need, scale and funding options before the board’s April agenda deadline for placing propositions on the ballot.

Ending: The district did not adopt any security spending at this meeting. Trustees asked for more evidence from front‑line safety staff and for a clearer cost breakdown (including projected local net cost after any state aid) before asking voters to approve reserve spending.