Clovis Unified School District

For Clovis Unified School District, transporting roughly 10,000 students across 50 schools isn’t just about logistics; it’s a daily commitment to student safety and public trust. With more than 160 buses in the fleet, the district must ensure every ride is monitored, every concern addressed swiftly, and every student protected.

Historically, onboard camera systems stored footage locally, forcing staff to wait for buses to return to the lot before they could retrieve video. Investigations stalled. Footage was sometimes incomplete or missing entirely.

After years of cycling through vendors, Clovis Unified reimagined its approach. Under the leadership of Chief Technology Officer Raj Nagra, the district partnered with Verkada to bring real-time visibility, faster response, and secure evidence sharing to the heart of student transportation.

The Challenge

For Raj Nagra, Chief Technology Officer at Clovis Unified, modernizing fleet security wasn’t just about upgrading hardware—it was about building a transportation system that could scale with the district’s needs while earning the trust of students, parents, and staff.

To do that, the team needed to address three critical pillars of student safety and operational excellence:

1. Operational readiness through real-time visibility

With more than 120 buses in motion each day, Clovis Unified needed the ability to see what was happening on any vehicle, at any time. The district’s legacy camera systems, which stored footage locally on each bus, created delays that slowed down investigations.

2. Reliability at scale

Inconsistent footage had become a recurring pain point. Failed DVRs, disabled cameras, and blind spots made it impossible to guarantee that incidents were captured. Clovis needed a system they could depend on. 

3. Secure, scalable evidence handling

Sharing video with legal counsel or administrators posed a dilemma: How to share footage quickly while maintaining privacy, tracking access, and avoiding file copies that could be forwarded or altered. The district needed an auditable, secure solution that could scale.

Clovis Unified needed more than new hardware. It needed a platform capable of delivering continuous visibility, accountability, and operational efficiency across an entire mobile fleet.

The Outcome

At a glance: how Clovis Unified uses Verkada to enhance school bus safety

• Mini Dome Cameras: Provides clear, consistent footage of student and driver interactions with audio to resolve incidents confidently.

• Cellular Gateways: Connects cameras to the cloud, allowing transportation staff to retrieve video remotely, even if the bus is parked or powered down.

• Command: Centralizes video access across the fleet, enabling faster investigations and secure sharing with administrators or legal teams.

This solution was deployed across the fleet with support from Development Group Inc., who served as the integration partner throughout planning, installation, and rollout.

On-demand video on every bus

In the past, when a parent called to report bullying or a student accused a driver of inappropriate behavior, Nagra and his team often had to wait until the bus completed its full route before accessing footage if the recording existed at all.

“Sometimes we’d hear from a parent in the morning, but the bus wouldn’t return until evening. We’d pull the video and find the camera failed or the footage was incomplete,” Nagra said.

Now, transportation staff can retrieve video from any bus—whether it's en route, parked, or powered down—using Verkada Cellular Gateways that sync footage to the cloud during operation. Delays are gone, and investigations can begin the moment a concern is raised.

Strategic camera placement and live audio capture

Each bus is outfitted with strategically placed cameras. Enabling audio also helps provide a complete view of actions and conversations.

This setup gives staff critical context, not just what happened, but how it happened. From the tone of a driver’s voice to a student’s body language, the footage helps the team fully understand each situation.

Secure, shareable evidence that protects student privacy

Instead of downloading files or transferring drives, staff can generate time-limited, view-only video links that can’t be forwarded or copied. Every action is logged, preserving the chain of custody and ensuring only authorized personnel review sensitive footage.

Looking Ahead

Since implementing Verkada across the bus fleet, Clovis staff have praised the system’s reliability, clarity, and ease of use. Video can be accessed instantly. Incidents are resolved faster. And footage is shared securely without compromising privacy.

Rather than replacing hardware every few years, Clovis Unified now sees Verkada as its long-term platform for student safety. As school districts nationwide modernize transportation, Clovis Unified offers a glimpse of what’s possible: a resilient, cloud-connected model where safety is proactive, data is actionable, and technology is aligned with the needs of students, staff, and families.