Case Study: Baltimore City Public Schools achieves 24/7 food-safety monitoring and avoids product loss with ComplianceMate

24/7 Temperature Monitoring for Informed Food Safety Decisions

Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) faced unreliable, paper-based cold-storage monitoring—notebook and clipboard logs, only two daily readings, and easily broken, hard-to-read thermometers—making it difficult to verify food safety after equipment failures or disasters under FEMA’s “Resolve to be Ready” initiative. To solve this, BCPS piloted ComplianceMate, a wireless sensor and cloud-based temperature monitoring system that provides continuous, time-stamped data and alerts.

ComplianceMate sensors were installed in refrigerators and freezers at three schools (in partnership with Morgan State University) and monitored conditions continuously through a severe storm; data showed two schools experienced outages (one cooler reached 78°F), leading BCPS to discard $3,200 in frozen foods and $270 in dairy, while another school’s compliant data avoided about $3,000 in losses. The ComplianceMate pilot delivered 24/7 verified temperature data, faster decision-making, improved accountability, and measurable cost avoidance.

Baltimore City Public Schools