A Statewide Inventory of K-12 School Boundaries

MapCollaborator - School Boundaries Edition
MapCollaborator can be used to create and review the boundaries of K-12 schools in California. The application allows onscreen editing and placing of comment or notes.
Client:   Stanford University Prevention Research Center

Accurately assessing public health and other factors around K-12 schools often requires knowing the boundaries of schools, not just a point location. Stanford's PRC and GreenInfo Network partnered to develop such a statewide dataset for the state of California.

Many research and some regulatory processes rely on geospatial analysis that captures an area of a set distance from a school - for example, limiting alcohol sales within a given distance of a K-12 school.  This work is sometimes done with geocoded points (most often just the "curb address" point), which creates distorted and inaccurate determinations.

Stanford's Prevention Research Center (PRC) has worked for some years on research around public health challenges near K-12 schools and sought out GreenInfo Network as a partner in completing a statewide inventory of actual campus boundaries for California.  This work is currently in-process, with boundaries complete for over 7,000 of the state's 10,000+ schools - boundaries that are mostly mapped to assessor parcel lines.

GreenInfo used traditional GIS tools, but also employed its innovative MapCollaborator web application.  MapCollaborator allows users with no GIS background to create GIS data, review existing data, and make comments.  Users can even upload GIS datasets for reference and comparison.  The application also allows for detailed aerial and oblique photo views of a site. 

Focus:   Education, Government Agencies  

Services:  Interactive Solutions, GIS Services, Analysis, Data, Web Mapping 

Tags:   education, Esri ArcGIS, mapcollaborator, schools  

Project Years: 2012-current

GreenInfo Network creates, analyzes, visualizes and communicates information in the public interest. We specialize in mapping and related technology for nonprofits and public agencies, focusing on using it for conservation, social equity, public health, environment and foundation grant making.
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