Background
Since opening in 2008, Saraland City Schools has grown from 1,535 students to approximately 3,500 across four campuses in Saraland, Alabama. The district serves students from prekindergarten through 12th grade at Saraland Early Education Center, Saraland Elementary School, Saraland Middle School, and Saraland High School.
As the district has grown, so have the demands on its technology department. In addition to supporting the systems that keep classrooms and school operations running, the team plays an important role in maintaining campus security.
For years, that meant managing four separate camera systems, each with its own infrastructure and maintenance requirements. Investigations were particularly frustrating, often requiring administrators to spend hours searching through recordings to find relevant footage.
Today, Saraland City Schools uses Verkada to manage video security, visitor management, intrusion alarms, air quality sensors, and access control through a unified platform. The district has dramatically reduced investigation times, streamlined security administration, and gained new tools to address challenges ranging from student vaping to emergency preparedness.
Challenge: Four camera systems, countless hours of maintenance
Before Verkada, Saraland City Schools relied on four separate camera systems across its campuses. For a small technology department supporting more than 3,000 students, keeping everything running was a constant challenge.
Failed hard drives, lost footage, recording server maintenance, and separate networking equipment created recurring headaches. Each issue required time and attention from a team already responsible for the district's broader technology needs.
Investigations were equally demanding. Finding footage of a particular incident could mean manually reviewing hours of recordings, sometimes across multiple systems. A single search could take three to four hours, delaying the process of reviewing incidents with school administrators or law enforcement.
"It was frustrating, time-consuming, and took valuable time away from supporting our schools," the Saraland City Schools Technology Department shared.
The district needed a way to make investigations faster, reduce its reliance on aging infrastructure, and give administrators easier access to the information they needed.
Solution: Bringing campus security together with Verkada
Cutting video investigations from 3–4 hours to 10–15 minutes
One of the biggest improvements since switching to Verkada has been the time it takes to investigate incidents.
Instead of searching through recordings manually, administrators can use Verkada's AI-powered video search to quickly locate relevant footage. By uploading a photograph, they can search for an individual across cameras and narrow down the footage they need to review.
Investigations that previously took three to four hours can now often be completed in just 10 to 15 minutes.
"Today, we're able to complete many of those same searches in just 10 to 15 minutes," the Technology Department shared.
The difference has been especially valuable to principals, administrators, and law enforcement partners who need to review incidents promptly.
Saraland City Schools also uses Verkada's Person of Interest capabilities to help identify potential trespassers on campus. These tools give administrators another way to recognize potential security concerns and investigate suspicious activity.
Beyond faster searches, moving to Verkada has eliminated much of the maintenance associated with the district's previous camera systems. The technology team no longer has to maintain traditional recording servers, replace failed recording hard drives, or manage separate security networks.
With cameras accessible through Verkada Command, administrators can review footage from a single platform rather than navigating several disconnected systems.
Addressing student vaping with better visibility and faster intervention
Saraland City Schools has also seen meaningful results from deploying Verkada Air Quality Sensors to address student vaping.
Before the sensors were installed, administrators largely depended on staff observations and reports to identify vaping incidents. That made it difficult to understand how often incidents were occurring or where additional attention might be needed.
The initial deployment revealed more than the team expected.
The sensors generated so many alerts that administrators had to rethink how they monitored and responded to vaping incidents. Although the volume was initially overwhelming, it gave the district a clearer picture of an issue that had previously been difficult to track.
With that information, administrators developed a more organized response process, using timely alerts to investigate incidents and address student behavior more consistently.
Since implementing the sensors and adjusting its response procedures, Saraland City Schools reports a tremendous reduction in vaping incidents across its campuses.
What began as an unexpectedly high volume of notifications helped the district establish a more proactive approach to student accountability and maintaining healthier school environments.
Managing visitors and protecting facilities beyond the classroom
For Saraland City Schools, keeping campuses secure also means knowing who is entering school buildings and protecting facilities that may be unoccupied for extended periods.
The district implemented Verkada Guest to help manage visitors and maintain better visibility into who is on campus. Having visitor management within the same security platform makes it easier for administrators to oversee building activity alongside the district's other security systems.
Saraland City Schools has also installed Verkada intrusion alarms at satellite facilities, including its bus shop and technology center.
These systems have improved the district's ability to secure buildings that aren't always occupied, extending security coverage beyond its four main campuses.
Together, these capabilities give the technology department a more consistent way to manage security across different types of facilities, without maintaining a separate system for every need.
Reducing staff security onboarding time by 50% and simplifying emergency lockdowns
The benefits of Verkada extend to everyday technology administration.
Using a single CSV file, Saraland City Schools was able to roster employees into its access control and lockdown systems, reducing staff security onboarding time by approximately 50%.
The district also configured Single Sign-On (SSO), allowing employees to use their existing credentials rather than remembering another password.
These changes have reduced the administrative work involved in managing staff access while making the systems easier for employees to use.
Saraland City Schools has also integrated Verkada's relay capabilities into its access control infrastructure to support emergency lockdown procedures.
Authorized staff can now initiate a lockdown with the push of a button from any location where they have connectivity. This provides an additional way for designated personnel to act quickly when a situation requires an immediate response.
For the district, these improvements are particularly valuable because they make important security functions easier to manage without adding more work for its small technology team.
Results: Less time managing systems, more time supporting schools
Since implementing Verkada, Saraland City Schools has reduced much of the time spent maintaining security infrastructure and reviewing footage, while giving administrators more effective tools to manage campus safety.
The district's results include:
3–4 hours to 10–15 minutes: Reduced the time required for many video investigations using AI-powered search.
50% faster staff security onboarding: Simplified employee rostering into access control and lockdown systems.
Four camera systems consolidated: Eliminated the need to maintain traditional recording servers and separate security networks.
Substantial reduction in vaping incidents: Used air quality sensor alerts to inform a more consistent administrative response.
Broader security coverage: Added visitor management, intrusion alarms, and connected lockdown capabilities to support safety across district facilities.
For the technology department, the impact is felt in its daily workload. Instead of troubleshooting recording servers or spending hours searching for footage, the team can devote more attention to supporting schools and responding to issues as they arise.
Administrators can find footage more quickly, address vaping incidents with better information, and manage visitors and building security through a more connected set of tools.
The improvements support a goal that has guided Saraland City Schools from the beginning: creating an environment where students and staff can succeed.
"At the end of the day, our goal is simple: protect our students, support our staff, and uphold the Spartan Standard. Verkada has become an important part of helping us accomplish that mission."
— Saraland City Schools Technology Department