McKinney ISD officials OK $6.5M investment in safety, security upgrades

The platform will allow district leaders to remotely manage as it is a cloud-based system. Officials will be able to lock or unlock doors as well as be notified if doors are propped open, and the video feed will create a proactive response to incidents, he said.

“We’ve got this one-stop shop, whether you’re on the web browser or through their mobile app, to manage all these different physical security components,” McGilvray said. “Being able to proactively receive alerts with video context to quickly assess the situation and respond accordingly is really beneficial.”

The district’s proposal with Verkada includes systems for:

• Door access control
• Environmental sensors
• Security cameras
• Video intercoms

Verkada is used by neighboring school districts, colleges and cities, according to the meeting’s presentation. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Coppell ISD
• Lake Dallas ISD
• Prosper ISD
• Richardson ISD
• The University of North Texas-North Dallas

Going forward

The integration of Verkada’s system onto MISD campuses will begin in phases.

Phase 1, which will be covered by 2021 bond funds, includes McKinney Boyd, McKinney and McKinney North high schools as well as the McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center. System upgrades will begin in May and June, according to the meeting’s presentation.

Future campus security upgrades for other MISD schools and facilities will be decided in future bond planning.

“This is, in my opinion, something that is exactly what our community, parents and other people would want us to be spending these bonds on,” trustee Amy Dankel said.