The Rancho Santa Fe School District will soon be installing a new security camera system, aiming to make the R. Roger Rowe School campus safer both during the school day and after school hours. At the Oct. 29 meeting, the board approved the $171,797 cost for the Verkada security cameras, which will cover the campus for the next 10 years.

The district’s current security cameras are eight to 10 years old and nearing the end of their useful life, according to Jamil Soltani, the district’s director of technology. Soltani proposed the new Verkada system—the cameras are used locally at Cathedral Catholic High School, The Bishop’s School, by the city of Encinitas, and at 10 San Diego City libraries.

Soltani said they offer a much clearer picture quality and a better opportunity for real-time threat detection with preemptive alerts and notifications, which can shorten incident response. The cameras can monitor a person of interest with facial recognition software, as well as license plate recognition capability.

The new cameras will be installed at 55 existing locations on campus, plus an additional eight new cameras to cover dead spots.

“I look forward to leveraging this state-of-the-art technology to enhance our ability to keep students safe while also giving us the opportunity to work more efficiently,” Soltani said.