GSN Digital Edition April 2016

Eagle Eye CEO sets up $1M grant
program to get camera systems in
schools
By Steve Bittenbender
In an attempt to bolster security at
schools and colleges, the CEO of a
video management system company
has established a grant program
that would cover the costs for a fully
functional security system for up to
a year.
Eagle Eye Networks began accepting
applications for the Drako
Cloud Security Grant for Schools on
March 31. Applications are due by
July 1 and are available at: eagleeyenetworks.com/school-securitygrant-video-surveillance/.
Funding
from the grant program is available
to accredited public and provate
schools across the country.
Successful applicants will get an
Eagle Eye Security Camera Video
Management System. That includes
cloud management, mobile access
applications, cameras, networking
equipment and secured gateways.
After the year ends, schools may return
the system or purchase it and
any necessary subscriptions.
Dean Drako, Eagle Eye’s president
& CEO, said the company established
the program to help
schools offset the costs associated
with installing a
camera network that can
enable first responders to
have emergency access.
“We are funding this
cloud security grant to
make it easier for more
schools to provide the
highest level of safety to
their students and staff,” he said.
“Eagle Eye Networks’ cloud surveillance
offers many benefits to improve
campus security, including
flexible retention, leading mobile
access, scalability, and an overall
lower total cost of ownership.”
School leaders who have Eagle
Eye systems already in place said
they chose the company because
of the savings and secure access a
cloud-based solution provides.
“Our school district’s top priority
is to protect our students and staff,”
said Steve Thalheimer, superintendent
of Fairfield (Ind.) Community
Schools. “Eagle Eye Networks’
cloud-based system will allow our
staff and law enforcement to have
35
Dean Drako,
Eagle Eye President &
CEO
as much information as possible in
any situation. We can use their First
Responder Real-time Video Access
to immediately give first responders
immediate access.”
Eagle Eye’s “cloudbased
surveillance system
lets us direct our technology
budget towards the
classroom, to enhance
our students’ educational
experience, rather than
towards building a large
technical support infrastructure,”
said Wayne
Marks, CTO, Brentwood
Christian School in Austin,
Texas.
The program announcement
comes at the same time Eagle Eye
released the findings of its second
survey on video surveillance in
schools. During the first quarter of
the year, 1,500 people were polled,
with 72 percent saying they favored
having security cameras in elementary,
middle and high schools – a
seven percent increase from the
2015 results.
Not only do the majority of parents
want schools to use cameras,
the same percentage of parents also
want the ability to view the video.
However, that number is split –
with 33 percent wanting full access
and 39 percent wanting it only
More on page 41