Venus ISD camera upgrade delayed; district cites vendor integration and staffing issues

Venus ISD staff updated the board on delays to a planned district camera‑system upgrade at Venus High School, citing integration problems between legacy cameras and the new Avigilon platform, subcontractor turnover at the contracted integrator ArrowWave (Airwave in transcript), and the need for an on‑site Avigilon engineer to troubleshoot configuration issues.

District staff said the project began Jan. 15 as a planned two‑week installation that extended into several months. Configuration problems arose around Jan. 21, and an initial subcontractor left the project; a subsequent subcontractor returned Feb. 17. Staff said ArrowWave arranged for an Avigilon engineer to be on site May 14, which they described as pivotal to resolving software‑hardware integration and legacy‑camera migration issues.

Technology staff said primary elementary campuses continued using the legacy Video Insights system, and the high‑school cameras have partial coverage requiring daily attention. District staff reported paying for delivered hardware but withholding payment for installation until the system is fully installed and verified. A technology staff member said the remaining balance owed to the integrator is between $2,000 and $3,000; staff also said a shift in camera locations increased cost by about $1,600 due to physical constraints not captured in the initial plan.

Board members asked why the district’s staff had been extensively involved in troubleshooting and whether the district had other vendors to complete the work if ArrowWave could not. Staff said they have leaned on the vendor but had also obtained ad‑hoc help from a second vendor and other school districts using Avigilon to verify fixes. A district representative said the district does have an alternate vendor relationship that could be used to complete the project if necessary, but staff have delayed hiring a second contractor to avoid paying twice for the same work.

District staff outlined a proposed timeline if the vendor resolves outstanding issues: start migrating legacy cameras to the Avigilon platform the week after graduation, conduct staff training the week of June 16, and target project completion by June 18. Staff cautioned that migrating legacy servers to the new system is a significant task and could require wiping servers and starting from a fresh configuration to avoid ongoing issues.

Trustees raised concerns about contract oversight and asked whether the contract includes penalties for missed deadlines; staff said they were not aware of a liquidated‑damages clause in the contract. Board members also pressed staff to compile internal labor‑hour records for potential cost recovery; staff said compiling those hours could be substantial and might be a litigation consideration.

District staff also discussed policy and operational questions arising from the upgrade: whether cameras are installed proactively in high‑risk classrooms (they said cameras are installed by request, typically by administrators or parents, not automatically in all such rooms), retention periods for recorded footage (staff said the district retains video for up to 90 days and can schedule recording during school business hours), and plans to keep special‑education classroom cameras on a separate server rather than migrating them to the new platform to limit access.

No board votes or contract modifications were recorded in the provided meeting transcript during the presentation.

Direct vendor names and the vendor‑engineer role were discussed on the record; staff repeatedly emphasized daily oversight and the need for vendor engineers to resolve integration problems before finalizing installation and training.