School Construction on an Occupied Campus: Keeping the Job Site and the School Day Apart

When a bond project brings a new wing to a school that stays open, the best plans make the fence line something staff can see and count on every day.

What one district shared with families

At a July 27, 2026 parent information meeting on its Bond 2025 work at Apollo Junior High, Richardson ISD in Texas described how it plans to keep construction separate from the school day while a new academic wing is built and the existing campus is renovated, with substantial completion targeted for August 2028.

The district listed the steps it is taking: background checks and ID badges for all construction workers, secure fencing with privacy screens and locked gates, temporary interior walls between construction areas and occupied learning spaces, a fenced portable classroom area with controlled entry points, daily campus safety inspections, weekly meetings between the construction team and campus leadership, and separate entrances and parking for construction crews. It also shared new drop-off, pick-up and bus patterns for the year, and noted that some athletic facilities will be unavailable during this phase.

Where a good plan still needs eyes

Fences and badges set the rules. The daily questions are about the edges: a gate left open after a delivery, a student who cuts through a staging area on the way to the portables, or someone on the job site after the crew has gone home, when tools and materials are sitting out.

Questions for your own project

• Boundaries: where do the job site and the occupied campus meet, and which of those points can your cameras see?
• Gates and deliveries: who checks that construction gates are closed after deliveries and at the end of the day?
• New walking routes: when portables or covered walkways change how students move, do the cameras you already have still cover the paths they use now?
• After the crew leaves: who should hear about someone on the site in the evening or on a weekend?
• Changing phases: as each phase moves the fence, who updates the areas and hours your team watches?

Where VOLT fits

VOLT is built to run on the cameras you already have.

Your team can set the construction zone and its hours. When someone is on the site outside those hours, where the cameras can see, VOLT can flag it as Person detected after hours, and possible theft or vandalism as Possible theft or Possible vandalism. During the day, a group gathering at a fence line or a temporary walkway, where the cameras can see, can show up as Crowd forming. Every notification is human verified. Each alert can reach the people your team has chosen, such as the campus administrator, the facilities lead and the project manager, with the camera view and the location.

That way your team can know what is happening at the fence line, from the first phase to the last, while the school day keeps running around it. To see how this could work for your district's next project, request a demo.

VOLT detects possible handguns, long guns, and knives visible to the camera.