In December of 2025, Chico Unified School Board (CUSD) members voted to sign a $2 million contract with Riverside Technologies Inc. using Verkada (AI) technology in all local schools. It has come to light that they knew they screwed up with this vote. Parents, teachers, school staff, students, and community members spoke up for months against this contract but the school board members pushed it forward anyways despite all of the warnings about Verkada: 

• They have a history of using their own cameras and data to harass female employees
• They are already under federal government oversight for data breaches and for violating the CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act)
  
  If you want to better understand the dangers that AI-surveillance poses to our children, please check out the research and reporting from the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU). The AI-surveillance isn't just in the cameras: it is also embedded in all the computers at every school. This means your child is being tracked and watched every time they use a computer at school. 

In the spring of 2026, CUSD voted to only use the AI-powered automated license plate reader (ALPR) function of these new cameras. However, it is now coming to light that the Chico Police Department granted ICE and border patrol access to its ALPR data. CUSD can also share its ALPR information with law enforcement putting our children, school staff, and teachers at risk. 

This is why we must protect our children and our community by keeping AI-powered security cameras and surveillance technology out of our local schools! Protect our kids!