Tempe Union board approves IGA with City of Tempe for emergency access to existing school cameras after privacy fixes

The Tempe Union High School District governing board on Wednesday approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the City of Tempe that authorizes city operation‑center access to selected campus camera feeds during emergency events, after the board tightened notification and suspension language at members’ request.

Board President Montero opened the discussion on item G‑5 and the board heard public comment from both supporters and critics. Julie Kent told the board the operation center would “increase response time” and improve safety for students, staff and police. Public commenters including Selena Cardenas and Sherry Johnson urged that teachers and staff be included in planning and asked for clearer, less‑vague language about when non‑emergency access and notifications would occur. Resident Nick Collins asked whether access logs would be public and what consequences would follow misuse.

City of Tempe IT Director Jared Morris and district staff responded to questions about access, control and retention. Morris said the City is offering 50 camera feeds in year one and up to 300 feeds over three years; the hardware and any recorded footage remain on site at schools and the district retains administrative control over which cameras are made available. He said feeds would be made available on an on‑call basis tied to 911 or other emergency triggers and that the system is configurable — districts can choose shorter retention or streaming‑only access. Morris said the system’s default on‑device retention is seven days, but the district can set retention to one hour, zero hours (streaming only) or another interval.

Board members pressed for stronger safeguards. Vice President James proposed changing a clause in section 2e from “may” to “shall” so that notification and provision of access information to the district would be mandatory; the board adopted that word change unanimously. Board members also asked for a mechanism to immediately suspend an authorized user’s access pending investigation; staff drafted and the board adopted amendment language requiring the city to immediately suspend access upon district notification pending an investigation and discussion between the parties.

Several trustees framed the IGA as an emergency‑response tool, not ongoing surveillance. Member Steele said the agreement is part of a trauma‑informed approach to shorten lockdowns and decrease the number of students affected during incidents. Member Hodge said she supports the safety objectives but abstained from the final roll call because of a Tempe City Council conflict; the final vote passed 4–0 with one abstention.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the meeting agenda and several consent items earlier in the meeting (all by unanimous votes). The proposed 2024–25 expenditure budget (item G‑1) passed 5–0. The G‑5 IGA with the City of Tempe passed on final roll call 4–0 with one abstention (Member Hodge).

Next steps: district staff and City of Tempe representatives agreed to provide the board with the final amended IGA language and to share administrative procedures and audit reports. The city invited board members and the public to an open‑house demonstration of the operation center on July 17. The board scheduled the next regular meeting for July 10, 2024.