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Committee reviews statewide school-safety platform contract and GIS mapping agreement
Summary
Committee members reviewed a new contract with SchoolDOG Solutions to provide a statewide K–12 school-safety platform and a GeoCom Inc. contract to deliver GIS-based school maps; staff said the state will own all maps and the platform will be available to every public school, with mapping expected to take about 18 months.
The Joint Interim Committees heard presentations on two connected education contracts intended to improve school safety statewide. Michelle Cohn, an attorney for the presenting team, said the state will own all maps produced under the GeoCom Inc. agreement and pointed the committee to contract language that gives the state "the unconditional right to use or distribute the maps" (paragraph 34). SchoolDOG Solutions was selected through a separate RFP as the vendor for a web-based K–12 safety platform that will integrate mapping, emergency operation plans and safety-observation tracking.
Why it matters: The contracts are framed by state school-safety requirements and aim to centralize plans and communications with law enforcement. Officials said the platform will be available to all public school systems and that the cost of the platform will be covered by the state so districts will not be required to pay to participate.
Details: The GeoCom contract covers GIS-based school maps required by the state's school-safety statute; Cohn said the maps and data will be owned by the state even though GeoCom will host them initially. The SchoolDOG contract will host emergency operation plans and allow staff and school employees to log potential safety issues in real time. Officials said the mapping work and system integration will take roughly 18 months and that staff training will begin once contracts are executed.
Questions and committee response: Members asked whether local districts would need to provide funding or otherwise bear costs; presenters said the state will pay for the platform and districts will be able to use it without additional fees. Representative Ingram placed a hold on the Tuskegee sole-source education contract discussed elsewhere on the agenda (see separate item) but did not object to the SchoolDOG or GeoCom presentations on funding grounds.
Next steps: Staff said they will begin implementation and training once contracts are finalized and the committee may follow up as mapping and integration progress.
