The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) confirmed on Monday that it will not move forward with an extension of its one‑year contract with Flock Safety, a company that provides license‑plate‑reading cameras. The district had planned to ask the school board to approve the $603,000 renewal at its upcoming meeting, but officials decided to suspend the use of Flock cameras on CMSD properties.
Reasons for the decision
Jon Benedict, the district’s spokesperson, explained in an email that several factors influenced the move. Privacy concerns were paramount, as an internal audit this summer revealed that outside law‑enforcement agencies accessed the system more than 130,000 times before the district halted data sharing on July 7. The audit also showed that the majority of searches were conducted by Cleveland police rather than CMSD security staff.
In addition to privacy, the district weighed the overall cost‑benefit of the Flock system against other security options. “The District’s goal is to direct resources toward the combination of measures that provides the most responsible safety benefit for our schools and community,” Benedict wrote.
Existing security infrastructure
CMSD stressed that it already has a robust security framework. The district operates nearly 5,000 district‑owned security cameras, employs “safe passages” staff who monitor school entrances and hallways, and has recently deployed temporary parking‑lot monitors. These physical measures, officials said, will continue to protect school property without the need for the Flock license‑plate readers.
Since 2022, the district has used Flock’s technology at 62 schools, covering 201 cameras that capture images of moving vehicles. School safety officials previously argued that the system was essential for combating break‑ins and vehicle thefts that have plagued district properties.
Community and board response
Board Chair Sara Elaqad requested the audit after community members raised concerns about privacy and the potential for the technology to be used for immigration enforcement. “It is important to the Board that all students — including those from immigrant communities — feel safe, respected, and protected,” she told Signal Cleveland earlier this summer.
Elaqad declined to comment further when reached Monday evening. The audit concluded that while the district had adequate safeguards, some of those safeguards were only implemented during the audit process.
What’s next?
The school board will now consider alternative security strategies at its next meeting. Officials indicated that the decision to end the Flock contract does not signal a reduction in overall safety efforts, but rather a reallocation of resources toward measures that align more closely with community values and fiscal responsibility.
Flock Safety could not be reached for comment before publication.
Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.
