The
School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) grant awards have been released, and Brazosport ISD was awarded over $213K in grant money. BISD is one of only 16 schools in the state of Texas to receive this national grant award!
The first project to be addressed by this proposal is the upgrade and enhancement of the video surveillance systems at the following campuses: Brazosport High School, Brazoswood High School, Brazoswood High School 9th Grade Center, Freeport Intermediate, Clute Intermediate, and Lake Jackson Intermediate. These upgrades will replace cameras with older technology with cameras that utilize the most current technologies in the industry. This project will also allow for the addition of video surveillance in areas that have been determined to limit coverage including, but not limited to, some parking areas, outdoor spaces, hallways, entrances, and commons areas. Planning efforts have resulted in a recommendation to move BISD from a surveillance system utilization model where camera access is employed primarily as a post-event tool for evidentiary or identification purposes to a more modern model where camera systems can be used as a pre-event monitoring and incident prevention tool. Newer Intelligent Video Technology (IVT) included in the proposed systems make this option an attainable reality. Intelligent Video, commonly referred to as Video Content Analysis or Video Analytics, automatically analyzes the video stream and extracts useful information from images such as detected possible intruders, going so far as to differentiate between loitering and normal behavior. While people can become distracted and overlook suspicious actions, Intelligent Video works 24 hours a day, greatly improving surveillance accuracy and effectiveness.
BISD’s proposal includes the acquisition of both cameras and servers (including installation and training) that possess Intelligent Video capabilities with intruder detection, loitering detection, direction detection, scene change detection, object detection, cross-line detection (trespassing), and facial recognition. Greatly enhancing our campus monitoring capacity, these systems will be tools used by the BISD Police Department, Campus Security Specialists, and Threat Assessment Teams to assist in the identification of possible threats to the safety and security of our students and faculty members.
The second safety and security solution to be acquired through this proposal is a district-wide mass radio communication/notification system. Adequate communication in a school safety incident is a key factor in limiting the damage or casualties in a crisis event. Based on school safety research models, the successful implementation of a quality communication/notification system will result in increased school safety, early staff intervention and response, expedited emergency response times, and increased parent engagement in the safety and security process.