Student monitoring software catches 'items' on violence, suicide

SCHENECTADY, NY (WRGB) — We're digging deeper into the student monitoring software that police say caught a recent threat to "shoot up" a local high school.

CBS 6 previously reported how police say the software from Gaggle caught that email threat to "shoot up" Schenectady High School only around five minutes after it was after sent on the morning of May 3rd.

Police say once Gaggle alerted the school district, Community Engagement Officers went to the home of the sender. The school day continued as normal, and the juvenile accused of sending it faces a felony charge of making a terroristic threat.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Software detects threat to "shoot up" high school

CBS 6 is now learning more about some of the other things that have been flagged by the software.

Data provided to CBS 6 by Gaggle and the district shows since September 1st of last year, more than 24,000 items were "reviewed" by Gaggle's safety team, with more than 208 hours spent reviewing content.

Once deemed legit, the items are filtered into either questionable content or possible student situations. The top category was violence towards others with 287 incidents. Suicide was second at 177.

From July of 2021 through the end of June 2022, more than 61,000 items were reviewed, with 576 incidents of violence against others and 311 related to suicide.

CBS 6 spoke with Andrea Tote-Freeman, the district's Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services:

I think effective student monitoring, software like this helps us, but we also have to have boots on the ground and people making good relationships with kids... Gaggle is not a 'gotcha,' it's meant to be a support, its meant to make sure that we're helping students to get the support that they need, Tote-Freeman tells CBS 6.

The Assistant Superintendent went on to say if the software saves just one life, it's worth it.

The company says they've partnered with hundreds of districts, and last school year, Gaggle software helped districts nationwide save the lives of 1,562 students who were planning or actively attempting suicide.

The Schenectady City School District started piloting it in May 2020, with full implementation in September 2021.

Crisis in the Classroom is a weekly segment in which CBS 6 investigates issues faced by educators, students, and families. Send any tips to our team by emailing or by calling (518) 288-6034.