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Highland schools to get security cameras
BY M.K. LUTHER • ST AFF WRITER
MONTEREY - The Highland County School Board approved installing surveillance cameras and a new secure entrance system on campus.
Speaking to the school board this past Thursday, new Highland High School principal Kelly Wilmore recommended the equipment to improve building security. "We are really going to push safety this year, big time," Wilmore said.
The combined total cost for the added measures will be roughly $9,955. The camera system will cost $7,688; the estimated cost for securing entrance doors is $2,266.
Wilmore said he can acquire the systems at a savings of about 35 percent - the conventional method would cost close to $15,000.
The cameras will be set up in blocks around the building and administrators can focus on a problem area from a control center.
The cameras will do more than just keep the school safe, Wilmore said. They will prevent student misconduct and help staff enforce regulations.
"From my experience, when you have cameras in school, it helps a whole lot for the administrators and it helps a whole lot for the parents," Wilmore said. "The kids know that they are on camera every day and the behavior referrals and problems drop quite a bit."
The ability to monitor the building will also provide evidence of student disputes or altercations, making the principal's life less complicated.
"Let's say Johnny got accused of hitting Steve in the back of the head in the middle of the hallway - I can go in and record that and hand the DVD to the parents," Wilmore said.
The proposed door locking system, provided by the Aiphone company, will cost $755 per door and be placed on three doors - the main entrance, the elementary school and the superintendent's office.
A visitor to the building will be on camera at the door and will have to ring a buzzer before the door is unlocked. The existing school policy requires any visitor to go to the office and sign in.
"The problem I have with this school is - and I know everybody loves everybody and it is a great community - and I've got you some evidence of things that happened in rural communities," Wilmore said. "Somebody can walk in that door and they don't have to go right and go to the office - they can go left, they can go wherever they want."
Wilmore, who previously worked in Roanoke City Schools, said the 21 elementary schools and six middle schools in the district used a secure entrance system. Those schools had no intrusions during Wilmore's two years of employment, he said.
Rural areas are now faced with the same type of schoolsafety issues that have typically been associated with larger or urban schools, he added. "If you look at the other evidence of a lot of shootings, a lot of the problems are happening in rural communities - it has caught up to the cities," he said.
Board member Jim Blagg made the motion to approve the systems at a cost of up to $10,000. Alluding to the 2006 one-room schoolhouse shooting of five girls in a small Pennsylvanian Amish community, Blagg said the risk of being unsecured is too high.
"I recently read a review of what happened in Nickel Mines, Pa. in the fall of 2006 and I don't think we can afford that in Highland County," Blagg said. "They certainly weren't expecting it and they still don't know what happened two years later, and I think $10,000 is good insurance."
Wilmore also proposed using the Ident-A-Kid program for visitors to Highland Elementary School. Ident-A-Kid uses a computer to take a photograph and record personal information. The information and photograph are stored in the computer and then printed on to ID badges for the visitor to wear while on school grounds.
"I am not saying it is Dodge City, don't get me wrong," Wilmore said. " But what I am saying is these are safety measures that will protect the faculty, the kids, everybody."
Other school improvements could be added gradually during the next three years, Wilmore said, but the addition of this security should be done as soon as possible.
Highland schools should adopt the security company's motto, Wilmore explained: "Be safe, don't be sorry."
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