Washington School District Demographics/Sex Offender Database Project

Included in the database are polygonal images of 63,257 residential, commercial, industrial and vacant land parcels in the Washington School District, Phoenix Arizona. Also included is census tract group data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The database also features minority migration areas, single-parent properties, properties with children under age 5, ages 5 to 17 and average family size/household thematic polygons. Additional attributes which feature truancy data, real estate property full and limited cash values, and parental contact information can be spatial jointed to this database.

In addition, the database contains photographic, descriptive, and risk level data of convicted sex offenders. This information is accessed though pop-up hotlinks, which are activated by clicking on yellow caution points shown on the Parcels overlay theme. These pop-up links have been integrated with the sex offender?s last known parcel address as compiled by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

The purpose for conducting this research project was to demonstrate effective means for student safety. An example of this would be placing bus stops away from residences of known convicted sex offender felons. This GIS can provide valuable spatial data used for budgetary decisions to plan shifts in pre-school student population, preparedness for social changes due to variations in migration, efficient methods for routing school bus vehicles, and tracking routine maintenance intervals of District vehicles.

ESRI ArcView GIS program application was used to process spatial data layers for the project. The data can be accessed with ESRI Arcexplorer software, which is freely available by downloading the program from the manufacturer's Internet website. The image shown below features a small sampling of parcels, including parcels occupied by high risk level sex offenders living within a one mile radius of Shaw Butte Elementary school.

The complete dataset is available by contacting Geographic Information Services, James Blosser at e-mail: gis_development@yahoo.com.

Project Date: April 22, 2002.