Engagement model
How it works
Overlay first: most schools’ existing cameras and door readers already suffice — keep the gear, add the Care OS brain, and run Pioneer Care sized to your campus. Most schools are under ~$3,000/year for Pioneer Care versus roughly $8–15K+/year for a typical cloud stack; larger campuses are sized up and cost more. A full rebuild with a certified install partner is an optional later path when gear is thin — not the default. Grants can accelerate either path.
Gap map (what you already have)
We map cameras, door readers, VMS, and network as they stand today. Most campuses are Overlay-ready — existing cams and badge readers usually already suffice; keep the gear, add the brain. Start on Overlay intake.
Add Care OS Overlay
Mac Mini Care OS on cameras and door readers you own: Cases, Find, Review/rewind (any camera by time — not only alerts), AI person alerts, student Wi‑Fi kept off staff and security (included), badge/door events into Cases, and private remote Care. Storage: Mini is the brain; add local disk if you need 30–90 days of continuous video.
Care sized to campus
Pioneer Care is required with Overlay: remote monitoring, updates, and backup checks. Most schools are under ~$3,000/year for Care versus roughly $8–15K+/year for a typical cloud stack; larger campuses are sized up and cost more.
Fund it — budget or grants
Many districts fund Overlay from ops because it cuts cloud rent. If you want grant help, fill the grant brief and we prepare and file. Programs: Grants.
Optional later: greenfield / rebuild
Only when gear is thin. A certified partner installs cameras, cable, readers, and strikes; Pioneer designs and configures. Not the default offer — Overlay is.
What Pioneer owns
Architecture, software configuration, grant preparation and filing from the brief, project management of the client relationship, and ongoing Care sized to the site.
What the install partner owns (when needed)
Physical craft on greenfield or upgrades: mounting, cabling, readers, strikes. Overlay often needs little or no new low-voltage work.
Coming with your doors / policy
Not day one. Panic/button lockdown sequences, soft lockdown vs drill (labeled), and fire = egress OUT only (never unlock ingress) wait on policy + fire panel (FACP) / AHJ. Day one: cams, doors, locked-down network, Care alerts. When ready, modes stay different signals — safe exit out, not open entry in. Partner + fire contractor own the door matrix.
Lockdown
One action secures planned doors/zones, notifies administrators, and can pull live camera views to entries and corridors. Distinct from a fire tone so nobody confuses “secure in place” with “get out.”
Fire / evacuate
Life safety wins for people inside: egress out so nobody is trapped. That is not the same as unlocking the building from the outside. Fire always overrides lockdown for exit — it does not open the campus as an entrance. Pioneer listens to the FACP; it does not replace your UL-listed fire system.
Drills & all-clear
Fire drills and lockdown drills are labeled modes staff run — not a fake fire-panel signal that defeats security. All-clear returns the building to normal. Door-by-door behavior is set with your install partner and fire contractor.
When you add it: exit ≠ entry. A pulled station must not become a free front door for an attacker. Cameras + staff + LE handle the security side; the UL fire panel handles life safety. Pioneer coordinates software modes — your install partner and fire contractor own the door matrix and AHJ sign-off.