Erica Smith, CUSD Director of Communications and Community Relations, said that the camera installation schedule remains undecided, but said work will likely take place over summer to minimize the effect on campus activities. The cameras, made by tech company Verkada, use features like AI-powered facial recognition, license plate identification and text-based searching. Data is stored for 30 days, according to Verkada’s website. Data collected by the cameras belongs solely to the school district, unless the district gives explicit access to an outside party. The cameras are capable of sharing live footage with local law enforcement in emergency situations. The school board unanimously approved the camera replacements at a May 20 board meeting to only enable the camera’s vehicle history feature while disabling facial recognition features. However, the board didn’t discuss its ability to eventually enable the contentious facial recognition functions. Parents and students repeatedly expressed their concerns over privacy throughout CUSD board meetings, bringing student safety into question. Many cited Verkata’s numerous data leaks throughout the company’s history as a red flag. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission sued the company for nearly $3 million after it failed to secure customer data, which led to a hacker accessing private customer cameras, according to the FTC website. Verkada is now annually audited by the FTC to ensure that security measures are continually updated and secure. REASONS FOR REPLACEMENT At the Feb. 18 board meeting, CUSD Director of Information Technology John Vincent spoke on why CUSD’s current cameras should be replaced — primarily, he said, because current systems are “antiquated” and approaching the end of its usability. After assessing different proposals, Vincent said using Verkada costs less than the current cameras used. He said that current cameras would cost $4.6 million to maintain and renew over a 10-year period, whereas Verkada will