ActVnet — a comprehensive response system funded and developed by Tulare County Office of Education to improve campus safety — connects law enforcement, fire departments, emergency medical services, school sites and families.
Though some programs in the private sector encompass similar components, it may be a one-of-a-kind offering by a public agency.
Student safety is a top priority for parents in the Central Valley communities the COE serves, explained Superintendent Tim Hire. ActVnet, he continued, “grew out of a desire to have a common map for the school safety plans that are required by the State of California. We thought that one of the benefits to our first responders to help them better protect students would be to have a common map structure for every school site in our county.”
The initiative began by convening stakeholders to discuss how to foster safer learning environments and bolster collaboration and coordination between first responders and schools. In 2018, input was collected from an advisory group of first responders about the primary tools that would help them protect campuses and act effectively and efficiently if a crisis should occur. This informed the creation of ActVnet.
The program was first implemented in January 2023 in a Tulare County district and currently is used by more than 70 districts across the state spanning roughly a dozen counties.
Hire’s goal was to make sure the project was done well and provided support to local educational agencies.
“Student safety has got to be the No. 1 priority … Our kids deserve to be safe and feel safe. And when they feel safe, that leads to other things: better academic performance, better behavior, better relationships, more opportunities to be successful at whatever they choose … It starts, I think, with feeling safe at school,” Hire said. “I have close friends in law enforcement, and they feel the same way. We’re just lucky enough to provide the tool that helps [districts] provide the service and support that our students deserve.”
About the program
Digital mapping is a core feature of the web-based platform.
“The map itself is a digital representation of the school campus, and part of that map includes a building identification system [corresponding signs affixed to buildings], much like the old Battleship alphanumeric grid system,” Hire noted.
The map also includes details like entry and exit points; doors, walls and windows; whether gates are walk- or drive-through; utility, automated external defibrillator and fire extinguisher locations and more. There is the ability to click on an individual classroom or office space and see a 360-degree picture of what that interior space of buildings looks like, Hire added.
The program ties into school surveillance cameras, which are labeled by building and location and can be accessed by dispatch teams in emergencies, allowing for “eyes in the sky” surveillance as needed to aid in response efforts. Users can pull up multiple camera views at once to track a suspect, see where individuals are who need assistance and generally get a fuller picture of what is going on.
Additionally, a communication channel can be utilized by law enforcement and site administrators to relay information to staff as well as a contact tool with staff information, photos and more.
ActVnet also houses site emergency procedures, a roll-call feature where staff can account for the condition and location of students they’re overseeing to administrators, as well as a reconnection tool so once a student is picked up by a verified loved one, it alerts other emergency contacts.
“Our system currently connects seamlessly and shares information with the AERIES student information system,” Hire said. “We’re in process of developing that same seamless communication with PowerSchool, which is another student information system that is widely used here in California and across the nation.”
The system can be used to conduct practice drills too with archival abilities for those exercises and actual incidents.
As Tulare COE is a public educational services agency, it doesn’t profit from ActVnet, Hire said.
“What we charge for it is just our costs,” he said. “So there’s a one-time setup fee, and then there’s what ends up being, I think, a manageable ongoing annual fee that provides technical support, provides continuous updates to the program and provides the school assurances that if they modernize a building, we come back and incorporate those changes to their facilities to the program.”
Hire worked on Assembly Bill 960, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, which, by July 1, 2030, encourages public schools with an enrollment of 100 or more students to implement a web-based or app-based school safety program that includes specified program parameters like a multilayered digital map of the school, the ability to notify first responders of emergencies and detailed site information.
He noted that ActVnet requires buy-in from both LEAs and local first responders and shared his hopes for the program’s future.
“I’m extremely proud of our staff and thankful for the school districts and staff who have come along and partnered with us and are implementing ActVnet. [I] would love to talk to more schools because this is a tool I think is immensely valuable to put in place, but I hope we never have to use,” Hire said. “But there is a sense of security and safety, and a sense of anxiety can be reduced significantly, knowing that this program is in place because of how effective it works.”
