Chandler Unified outlines layered school safety plan, cites threat assessments and student supports

Dr. Dela Torre, a district presenter on school safety and security initiatives, told the Chandler Unified School District #80 Governing Board at a Wednesday study session that the district is pursuing a layered approach to campus protection that combines physical upgrades, technology and expanded student supports.

"Ensuring student safety is is an important piece, of anything we do at the school. I would argue that it's probably the most primary thing that we do," Dr. Dela Torre said as he opened a presentation on the district's safety work on Oct. 8.

The presentation summarized work on exterior security and visitor management, planned technology upgrades, efforts to speed emergency communications with local police, and school-based mental-health and well-being programs. The district is midyear in a required cycle of threat and vulnerability assessments and is piloting several technical and programmatic changes intended to reduce response time and increase preventive supports.

Why it matters: District officials said safety is integral to learning and that the board's decisions about funding and technology will affect response times, evidence preservation and parents' ability to reunify with children after an evacuation. Staff also tied security investments to student-support programs intended to address root causes of disruptive behavior.

Key features and next steps

- Threat and vulnerability assessments (TVA): Dr. Dela Torre said the district is required to complete a TVA for each campus every five years and is about halfway through the current round; the remaining campuses are scheduled for assessment before year-end. TVA results are used to inform physical and procedural improvements and the district's compliance records.

- Cameras and video software: The district is moving from a platform called Ocularis to a newer platform it identified as Access to gain clearer video access, longer archival capacity and potential for AI-assisted anomaly detection. Dr. Dela Torre said AI features could help staff spot unusual movement patterns or visible weapons and direct human attention to higher-risk areas. High school security offices already maintain multiple-camera hubs staffed during school hours.

- Grants and funding: The district has applied for a federal COPS grant to help pay for camera upgrades in high-need areas; officials said they were still awaiting a decision.

- Raptor rapid-alert and visitor-management system: Staff described Raptor as an integrated system that offers a mobile alert app and badge-based check-in, a reunification workflow for evacuations, visitor kiosks that print badges, and a registry check that can flag known threats when an individual attempts to sign in. Dr. Dela Torre said the system can triangulate an alert location "within 10 feet," which administrators say would speed targeted responses and first-responder coordination. The district said it is reviewing capabilities, logistics and pricing.

- Police access and information-sharing: The district said it is pursuing limited, emergency-only, logged camera access for local police and shared-camera access in urgent incidents to accelerate response. Any external access would be monitored and logged, officials said.

Student supports and prevention work

District staff stressed that safety planning extends beyond perimeter control to student well-being and prevention:

- Counseling and behavioral supports: The district funds counselors, social workers and school psychologists (some positions funded through state grants) and uses a tiered intervention model to match supports to student needs. Dr. Dela Torre credited Natasha Davis and the counseling services team with coordinating supportive measures and community referrals.

- Curriculum and prevention programs: The district uses the Second Step social-emotional learning curriculum in K–8 as its universal (tier 1) approach, supplemented by counselor-led lessons, peer mediation and conflict-resolution instruction at higher tiers. School-based prevention liaisons, a new stipend-funded position at each site, use Arizona Youth Survey data and local quarterly plans to design lessons and supports.

- Staff training and mandatory reporting: The district requires staff training in mandatory reporting, Title IX processes, staff-student boundaries and trauma-informed practices. Dr. Dela Torre said the HR office has an investigator assigned to Title IX and personnel complaints.

Data presented

Dr. Dela Torre presented multiple data sources the district uses to prioritize work:

- CSTAG threat-assessment workload: Last year the district completed 128 threat assessments; six were judged "substantive" (requiring immediate action). In the first quarter of the current school year staff reported 37 assessments with two substantive determinations.

- Tip lines and online filters: The district moved its tip-line tool (formerly part of Lightspeed) to a product now called Stop It. For the 2024–25 school year staff reported 21 Lightspeed reports; in 2025–26 the district had received nine Stop It reports so far (six at high school level, three at junior high). Lightspeed/Stop It reports cover bullying, self-harm, child abuse and potential aggression. The district also uses Lightspeed as an internet filter and reported about 7,000 online alerts that spanned the late 2024 and the early 2025 reporting window; those alerts range from quotes that trigger false positives to instances flagged as imminent.

- Severity coding: Of the online incidents examined during the presentation, roughly 30 were coded as "imminent," prompting immediate phone notification to site administrators; other incidents were categorized as high risk, valid-but-not-likely, or no concern after review.

- Student climate surveys: Districtwide climate results presented by staff showed that 91% of students report feeling safe in the classroom and 87% report feeling safe traveling to and from school. Staff also noted that about half of students report having witnessed bullying or harassment at school, consistent with national trends.

Board questions and context

Board members pressed staff on how the district normalizes and interprets event counts (for example, adjusting for enrollment), how "minor aggressive acts" are defined and whether increased reporting reflects worsening behavior or improved detection and documentation. Dr. Dela Torre said the district's higher sensitivity and documentation standards likely increase counts compared with prior years, and that the spectrum of conduct ranges from "recklessness" and disorderly conduct up through assault.

Several board members requested longitudinal comparisons and per-student rates to assess whether the absolute number of events reflects a changing rate of incidents or changes in enrollment and reporting practice.

What the board directed or may expect next

- Staff said they will complete the TVA reviews by year-end and continue grant work for camera upgrades.

- The district will continue piloting Raptor, finalize pricing and present follow-up recommendations for visitor-management and reunification procedures.

- Board members asked staff for year-over-year comparisons of discipline events normalized by enrollment and for deeper site-level climate analysis drawn from student advisory groups and site councils.

Ending

Dr. Dela Torre closed by reiterating the district's stated priorities: people first, layered security and ongoing review of processes and equipment. Staff emphasized that technical tools are intended to speed responses and to be used alongside counseling and behavioral supports. The board followed with several questions and requested additional disaggregated data and charts in future reports.