That’s just one of the updates Interim Superintendent Alan Boucher gave Tuesday, at the annual State of the Schools address.
He says the Rock Island School District will continue to amp up security.
"It goes on and on and on, in fact, we've spent millions upon millions of dollars to make our buildings more safe and to be in good repair," he said. "Just this past year, we've added 103 security cameras to the schools, and now we have about 213 cameras, and I know we're only getting started."
The cameras are watched by one person, hired to monitor them.
Boucher says diversity is another priority for this school year. The district hired a nonprofit, the American Institutes for Research, to conduct an equity audit in November.
"The idea is so that we can find some root causes for the gaps that exist, and then after we identify those root causes, that we'll come up with strategies for being able to address them, because we really believe that every single child in the Rock Island School District deserves an excellent education."
The Rock Island School District is one of the most diverse in Illinois. Boucher says it includes over 800 students who speak a language other than English at home.
Last year, the schools had a teacher retention rate of around 95%. The attendance rate was nearly 88%, up 1.5% from the previous year.
