AGHS implemented the use of a new drone to improve campus safety with a birds-eye view of the school grounds. Officer Pullen, the main operator of the drone, monitors watch over the skies above the school.
“For the high school, only something serious [would require the deployment of the drone], but if we were to have some sort of incident requiring a lockdown or if we had an intruder on campus, we could fly it up and kind of get an overview of the situation,” Pullen said.
The use of the drone prompts a perspective that can’t be seen from a camera connected to a building. The practicality of the 360 degrees 4k camera makes the drone a great solution for more surveillance around campus.
The exact drone model used for the operations is a DGI three, however for commercial use of a drone, the operator must possess a commercial pilot license from the Federal Aviation Administration.
“[The DGI three drone] is one of our exterior drones. We have some interior drones too for inside, and we have a slightly larger one if we need to go further, we use it for a variety of things,” Pullen said.
While the drone provides a new aerial look on campus, it also raises questions about privacy among students and staff members.
Math teacher Dan Hoffman said he doesn’t see any major concerns regarding privacy.
“Because there’s already cameras all over campus, it doesn’t affect the level of security, it just offers a wider birds-eye view… If the drone flew into a classroom or a bathroom, maybe that’s a different story,” Hoffman said.
Despite the drone’s presence on campus, students have not been brought to the attention of its use yet.
“I didn’t know the school got a new drone. It seems like a good idea but I feel like it should be more known because if I am going to be viewed from a drone while I am at school, I would at least like to know it is happening,” Scout Coddington (’26) said.
The drone offers AGHS a versatile tool for overseeing safety on campus, but transparency with staff and students remains an important consideration, especially with the increased use of technology becoming more present in the monitoring of AGHS’s campus security.
