Santee School Board approves paging and visitor-management systems; door-lock project tied to bond

The Santee School District Board of Education voted Oct. 15 to purchase an indoor/outdoor paging and clock system and a five‑year visitor-management system upgrade, approving the expenditures from Facilities Set Aside funds.

Administration presented prior cost estimates for several security projects totaling $9,502,338: an automated door locking system priced at $6,948,000, an indoor/outdoor paging/clock system at $1,885,938, and a visitor management upgrade at $636,400 (five-year term). Assistant Superintendent David MacLeod told the Board the district would move forward with the paging/clock and visitor-management purchases now and would pursue the door-locking project only if a local bond tax extension is approved.

Ken Nunes, West Region Director for Centegix, demonstrated the crisis-alert system and said it "minimizes identification, notification, and response time in emergencies." IT Management Corporation staff showed how the paging/clock system integrates with Centegix to provide synchronized announcements and clocks across campus.

Board member Barbara Ryan moved to fund the two approved purchases with Facilities Set Aside funds, which include approximately $2.8 million refunded from the Office of Public School Construction for modernization projects; Member Dianne El‑Hajj seconded the motion. The motion passed on a recorded vote of 5-0.

District leaders described the investments as layers of security intended to improve emergency communications and visitor controls while noting the larger automated door-locking proposal remains contingent on voter approval of a bond extension.

The purchases will be presented at a future meeting with product specifics and demonstrations of system capabilities, per the Board's request.