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Board questions long‑term costs of school safety technology after district rollout
Summary
After the district described its school-violence-prevention rollout—including cameras and Syntegix crisis-alert badges—commissioners pressed the superintendent about recurring replacement and subscription costs; the superintendent said vendor warranties and replacement allowances informed the decision but that maintenance remains a consideration.
Commissioners questioned the district about recurring and replacement costs for the wearable crisis-alert badges and other safety technology being implemented across campuses. Chair John Carr said he supported the program but worried about long-term replacement cycles: "But that's the one that also worries me, long term cost... those batteries or whatever in the patches go dead or 20% fail every 2 years and we gotta buy new," he said.
Superintendent Dr. Josh Byers said the district evaluated life-cycle and subscription costs before adoption, that vendors provided battery-life estimates and spare badges for replacements, and that the district considered the upfront infrastructure the major cost. "The badges in and of themselves are pretty inexpensive and not a major deal," Byers said, while acknowledging ongoing evaluation will be necessary to decide whether to continue subscriptions after initial contract life.
