Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety Grant topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Orange County schools accept $250,000 VDOE security grant to replace high school PA, upgrade middle-school cameras
Summary
The Orange County School Board approved acceptance of a $250,000 Virginia Department of Education school security equipment grant and agreed to use local match funds to replace the public-address system at Orange County High School and move Locust Grove Middle School cameras to a cloud-based system.
The Orange County School Board voted to accept a $250,000 Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) school security equipment grant and to use local matching funds to replace the public-address system at Orange County High School and upgrade the camera system at Locust Grove Middle School.
Board members and staff said the projects aim to modernize a failing PA system at the high school and move the middle school’s oldest camera system to a cloud-based platform. Justin, a transportation/facilities staff member who presented technical details to the board, said, “The total cost for the project is expected to be $256,000.” He added staff expect a 25% local match on the grant (about $62,500) and that the combined scope as currently written may exceed the grant by “about another $60,000.”
The board heard that the preferred public-address vendor is Cloud 12 and that the PA work would integrate with the Syntegix safety system the division is installing. Justin said Syntegix is being rolled out now to some schools and that the vendor relationship would make the systems work together. The camera upgrade at Locust Grove Middle School would replace a DVR-based system with a cloud-hosted configuration; staff described that move as a way to reduce mechanical failure risk and to centralize storage and monitoring.
Board members asked about procurement and schedule. Justin said staff are vetting contract options and would provide contract documents to board members on request. He said an engineer must walk the high school to finalize pricing for the PA work and that, if approved, the division would prioritize the PA work so pricing can be finalized.
The board approved a motion to accept the VDOE school safety grant “as presented.” The motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. Board members said staff will return with final contract, procurement and scheduling details and that county funding may be requested to cover the estimated overage.
Next steps include final vendor selection, scheduling the engineering walk-through at the high school, and confirming the local-match funding plan.
