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Cameras studied for New Haven
schools
Linh Tat
ANG
Newspapers
Monday April 2, 2007
UNION CITY — Citing a desire to improve student safety and
to deter vandalism and theft, New Haven school district administrators
have proposed installing video surveillance cameras on school grounds.
The proposal, which will be discussed at Tuesday's school board
meeting, is one that members of the James Logan High School site
council have pushed for the last couple of years, Superintendent
Pat Jaurequi said.
Feedback from other school site councils and community members
also has indicated support for the cameras, she said.
"I believe there is consensus that appropriate use of video
cameras would improve student safety," she said.
The proposed policy calls for the "responsible and limited
use of video surveillance cameras" on school grounds but not
"where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy."
The policy also states that recordings will not be used to create
a gang database or be shared with police without expectation that
the recordings would provide evidence "related to a violation
of law."
The cameras would be placed in common areas such as the Logan quad
and where there are frequent incidents of vandalism, Jaurequi said.
"I would like to hear from the community first, but I personally
would not be supportive of (cameras) being in locker rooms,"
she said, adding that she intends to work with the community to
see where it would "make sense" to install cameras.
"I don't believe this policy will mean that we will go putcameras
up at every school," she said.
During a forum in January, community members who supported the
cameras cited their usefulness in promoting campus safety, but some
raised concerns about privacy.
Kevin McHugh, whose children attend Logan and Barnard-White Middle
School, said the cameras are a good idea as long as the decision
to have them comes from the schools.
"I would hope that each school would have that ability to
decide where in the school it would be," he said.
Each camera would cost the district $10,000 to $15,000 to install.
Campuses could choose to use bond money designated for their sites
to purchase the cameras, and the ongoing cost of monitoring them
would come out of each school's discretionary funds.
The district already has cameras set up at the Adult Education
Center and on some school buses. The district has a policy for cameras
on buses. Jaurequi said the cameras at the Adult Education Center
were put up before she arrived at the district.
"Sometimes individuals are trying to do the right thing and
(don't) consider if we have a policy (yet)," she said.
Also on Tuesday, the board will vote on a revised draft of a policy
regarding the search or seizure of students and their belongings.
The policy states that school officials may not search a student
or his personal belongings or car without "reasonable suspicion"
that the student is breaking school rules or the law. The policy
also requires that searches be conducted in front of at least one
other district employee.
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BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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