Industry Vertical
Taking It Up a Grade
Joint effort at Chaffey Joint Union High School District means safer, more efficient electronic locks
- By Tim Moreno
- Oct 03, 2016
Located just east of Los Angeles, the
Chaffey Joint Union High School District
is the fourth largest school system
in the state of California. With a
faculty and staff of 5,400, the district
serves more than 24,000 students across 11 campuses
in the communities of Ontario, Montclair, Rancho
Cucamonga, and portions of Fontana, Upland and
Mount Baldy. The Chaffey school district includes
eight comprehensive high schools, a continuation high
school, a community day school, and an adult school,
plus an online high school and alternative programs.
Threats on Campus
An increase in threats and incidents on school and college
campuses nationwide has resulted in education
leaders focusing on the continuous improvement of
security. Because education facilities typically have a
large number of employees, students and visitors, often
with varying schedules, it is imperative that they have a
door and access control solution that is easy to manage
and can provide credential updates in real time.
In 2014, Chaffey schools, seeking to upgrade their security
plan with funds from an $848 million bond issue,
chose to convert existing mechanical locks to electronic
locks. The purpose of this upgrade was to provide:
• A districtwide, keyless, and smart access control system
for more than 3,200 doors across 11 campuses.
• The capability for an easy system wide lockdown
in an emergency.
• Convenient and secure access for the wide-range
of campus users.
• Easy-to-use administrative software to manage access
of different buildings within a single, seamless
interface.
• Accurate monitoring of critical tasks. Respected
system integrator IES Communications earned
the project and developed the security upgrade for
Chaffey schools. At the time, IES had just begun
recommending SALTO Systems wireless and networked
locks and determined they would be able
to provide the best solution for Chaffey Schools,
said Gilbert Romo, IES Communications vice
president of sales.
“Our relationship with SALTO was relatively new
when we selected them to supply electronic locks and
software for Chaffey Schools in 2014, but we were
very impressed with their products and past successes,
and we knew this project would be the perfect fit,”
Romo said.
Leveraging the Network
IES Communications chose to convert Chaffey
Schools’ existing mechanical locks into a standalone,
battery-powered, smart access control system leveraging
the SALTO Virtual Network (SVN) with MIFARE
technology and a wide range of SALTO XS4 hardware, specifically electronic escutcheons,
electronic cylinders, panic devices
for emergency exit doors, door detectors
that wirelessly indicate an open door,
wall readers and door controllers.
SALTO Systems featured the first
stand-alone, battery-powered electronic
lock; the SVN data-on-card technology;
and the first wireless access control
system that combined a stand-alone
locking device with online, real-time
capabilities, all without using wires or
mechanical keys.
The advanced data-on-card technology
has provided Chaffey schools with
significant benefits and improved productivity
such as: controlled and secure
access for more than 5,400 cardholders
across 11 school sites, 116 buildings,
and 3,200 doors, substantial reduction
in employee man hours spent physically
unlocking and locking hundreds of
doors each morning and afternoon and
increased efficiency in the processing
and chain of custody of keys and credentials
through the district’s locksmith
shop. The high cost of key replacement
has also been drastically reduced.
The new system is streamlined and
is much easier for assigning expiration
dates for credentials compared to traditional
key-tracking methods It provides
immediate updates for lost or compromised
smart cards, plus significant reduced
cost for replacement of credentials,
easy and efficient scheduling and
monitoring of access to specific areas
for designated staff, such as tracking of
who initiates use of a facility, scheduling
access at an appropriate time, monitoring
how long the activity takes place,
and a district wide lockdown procedure
that involves rapidly securing all doors
in the event of an emergency.
CJUHSD Superintendent Mat
Holton believed the lockdown feature
was a critical requirement.
“The lockdown and emergency
open features are an important additional
component for the overall security
of our many campuses and the entire
campus community, including faculty,
staff, students, parents and our local
first responders,” Holton said. “Our
staff has included the new technology
during drills conducted at school sites
with the participation of local police,
sheriff, and fire departments.”
According to Romo, key in the
smooth transition from mechanical to
SALTO’s electronic lock solution at
Chaffey schools has been the ability of
end users to quickly learn the system.
“The product is incredibly intuitive
and is easy to use, which is why we do
not have to take a great deal of time in
training the end user,” Romo said. “Our
training is usually half of one day and
covers the primary topics of how to use
access cards, determining battery life of
the lock, and learning the software. We
make ourselves available to end users
for additional training, but we rarely get
that request.”
After using the system for more than
two years, Holton said Chaffey schools
now have an efficient, cost-effective,
flexible and scalable solution.
“The solution is easy to use, accurate,
and allows us to more efficiently
manage a range of buildings and facilities
across the district,” Holton said.
“The time and valuable resources we
now save are substantial.”
This article originally appeared in the October 2016 issue of Security Today.