Indian Prairie School District 204

Securing Student, Faculty, & Staff

In its commitment to helping every student reach their full potential, the district places the highest priority on maintaining safety across all schools. Beyond education, the district also rents its facilities to local organizations for youth sports, community events, and other gatherings, each presenting unique logistical and safety challenges. Recognizing the importance of safeguarding students, staff, and facilities, IPSD 204 determined that a modern video security system was an essential need.

THE CHALLENGE

With such a large student population, it’s nearly impossible for teachers to constantly monitor the whereabouts of all students at all times. The risk of a child exiting through a side door or wandering off a playground is a genuine concern.

Given the high levels of activity from visitors, identifying who was responsible in cases of damage or vandalism to buildings was often a challenge. Many of IPSD 204’s buildings are over 30 years old, and despite aging very well over that time, the aging infrastructure presents potential risks that need to be closely monitored until the necessary upgrades could be made.

Maintaining an equitable environment for all schools within the district was an important tenet of the IPSD 204 administration. With 21 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, and 4 high schools, any implementation plan needed to prioritize safety while delivering consistent levels of protection and attention to each school.

Ensuring a smooth installation process for the district was a top priority for Scientel’s project management team. However, there is one influential group whose time needs to be catered to the most —students. Balancing students’ schedules and summer programs presented a slight challenge for the Scientel team, as they also needed to coordinate with other vendors’ timelines and availability.

SCIENTEL’S SOLUTION

IPSD 204 leadership built a 5-year strategic plan for the district, and Director of Building Operations John Robinson and Safety, Security & Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Ron Wilke made sure that facility improvements kept the safety and security of students as their #1 priority.

You can’t manage what you can’t see. We have a lot of ground to cover across these buildings, and these cameras give us a clear line of sight into every hallway and entrance. It’s a straightforward tool, but it’s one of the most effective ways we have to make sure our schools stay the safe, focused places they’re supposed to be.” – John Robinson | Director of Building Operations | IPSD 204

The strategic plan called for enhancements to the security cameras’ infrastructure, providing increased visibility to areas of concern, such as playgrounds and stairwells. The camera solution also offered the principals a method for keeping the school secure during the school day helping to prevent unauthorized entry/exits and giving the administrative staff a means to review incidents that might require attention.

IPSD 204 and Scientel Solutions came up with a plan that could tackle all of these challenges. The solution involved the deployment of approximately 550 cameras throughout all 21 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, and the administrative building. The deployment required careful planning and coordination with the IPSD 204 facility and IT staff to work around the student schedules, as well as taking into consideration all of the other facility upgrades that were happening concurrently. In addition, the Scientel team shifted work schedules for certain schools to further ensure that students were not disturbed.

The planning and procurement of this project made deployment smooth for both our techs and the IPSD 204 staff. While working to accommodate the students’ schedules, our teams built a strong working relationship and demonstrated the dedication Scientel technicians have to meet customer needs.” – Bill Asselborn | Project Manager | Scientel Solutions

The video management solution selected was Exacqvision, due to its flexibility and ease of use, and also due to the familiarity and comfort the IPSD 204 IT Staff had with the platform, having worked with it for years before this project. For similar reasons, Axis cameras were chosen as they met the functional requirements, and IPSD 204 staff had been using Axis cameras for years and were familiar with how to support them without requiring excessive training.

A creative network architecture had to be designed due to the complex network available within the district. Bandwidth limitations at each of the elementary schools, and space limitations at each of the schools required that Scientel provide a hybrid design to each of the 7 middle schools operating as the recording hub for 3 elementary schools. This network architecture struck a balance between network bandwidth to make sure the elementary schools were never overtaxed, while still providing easy access to elementary school principals who needed to view their camera feeds in real-time or after the fact.

To meet the district’s needs, Scientel’s team chose Axis cameras with an Exacqvision VMS (Video Management System). By dividing the project into 30 separate projects, the district has the ability to monitor and track the costs of each school independently.

THE RESULTS

Such a collaborative effort, combined with alignment to the district’s strategic objectives, provided the perfect environment for a quick and successful execution, resulting in the district gaining complete coverage of its elementary and middle schools. From initiation to completion, all 534+ cameras, 7 servers, network switches, and cabling were installed, provisioned, and users were trained within 6 months. All of the work was performed without disruption to the classroom learning environments, and several other facility upgrades took place concurrently.

“Our goal was simple but ambitious: Get every one of our younger students under a modern umbrella in just 6 months. It was a big lift, especially other renovations happening at the same time across 30 buildings, but we hit every mark. Now, our staff isn’t just looking at new hardware – they’re actually trained and ready to use it. It’s a huge win for the district’s safety goals.” – Ron Wilke | Safety, Security, & Emergency Preparedness Coordinator | IPSD 204

IPSD 204 now has a modern, highly functional camera system that provides excellent school safety with day and night security for more than 35 facilities. The ease of use and excellent image clarity will benefit both the principals daily, as well as the district administration that might need to get a clear view of events at a school building.

Addressing the #1 Priority of the 5-year strategic plan is a great start and something Scientel is proud to be a part of. Several Scientel employees have students who attend IPSD 204 schools and feel a sense of peace knowing that there is such a commitment to safety and security throughout the district. Scientel is proud to have this opportunity to serve such a forward-thinking school district.