Board hears recommendation to expand Raptor emergency-management and visitor-access system

Michael Peetz, director of school safety and security, recommended the district adopt a comprehensive emergency management system from Raptor to integrate cameras, alarms and communications and to provide direct information to 911. "When somebody triggers an alert through the system, it puts a specific location over a map of the school building so they know where to respond," Peetz said.

Peetz outlined features the district would use: mapping for first responders, drill management and digital reunification so student and staff accountability can be checked in real time. He said Raptor offered a pilot of a wearable silent alert lanyard for one building and that the vendor would provide staff training as part of implementation. Peetz presented a cost summary showing a one-time training/implementation cost of about $10,000 and a recurring annual fee of $22,095; at points in the presentation he characterized the total as about $32,095 and indicated an implementation cap "not to exceed $33,000." The recurring fee was described as the annual cost for the emergency-management and expanded visitor-access features.

Board members asked detailed questions about accuracy, failure modes, data retention, vendor selection and alternatives. Doctor Cedric Henderson said the scale of surveillance concerned him: "This absolutely freaks me out. It's dystopian." Peetz answered that the pilot building could support room-level accuracy for panic buttons and that other alerts would provide general location information; he said the vendor supports multiple communication paths (district network, Wi-Fi, cellular) to reduce the risk of system unavailability. He also said the district could contract for one year and reevaluate.

Questions about personal data prompted Peetz to explain what the visitor module stores: he said the system retains a visitor photo, name and date of birth and that the district manages that data internally; the vendor does not share full driver-license images across third-party systems, he said. Board members asked whether visitor kiosks would give people broader access; Peetz repeatedly said kiosk check-in would produce a printed badge and the district would continue to require front-desk verification and buzz-in procedures.

Several board members asked why Raptor was recommended. Peetz said the district already uses the Raptor visitor sign-in and that Raptor offered interoperability with camera systems and the chance to beta-test new features; he compared other platforms (CrisisGo, Navigate360, Singlewire/InformaCast) and said Raptor scored strongly on usability and integration for this district.

No vote occurred at the meeting; Peetz and the administration said they would provide additional information and that the board could start with a one-year contract and revisit vendor choice at renewal.