The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Caught on tape
Schools go high tech to keep students safe
By Lindy Stevens, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: May 22, 2008
Technology has made its way into the classroom and more teachers have begun to rely on computers than ever before, but almost no teacher has completely abandoned the traditional chalk and eraser tactic.
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That same approach holds true when local administrators talk school safety. Although every local high school now has surveillance cameras in place, school officials are the first to point out that no piece of technology can replace the eyes and ears of an experienced staff member -- not even cameras that run 24 hours a day.
So if administrators agree that teachers and staff are the first line of defense when it comes to school safety, why bother with cameras? For Ben Williams, principal of Saline High School, surveillance cameras aren't just an added security measure. Williams said they're also an important tool when students come in with stories that don't add up.
"A lot of times kids will tell you the truth and a lot of times they won't, so the cameras are really just a good backup to help us understand what happened," Williams said. "The cameras can either help erode a lie or support a true statement, and they save the administration a lot of time."
At Dexter High School, where cameras are also used mostly as a backup, Principal William "Kit" Moran said surveillance is especially useful after a theft has been reported and he's trying to narrow down a list of potential thieves.
"After we found out that some students had things taken out of the locker room, by going back to the cameras we were able to identify the kids that were going in with empty hands and then coming out with full arms," he said.
Although no local high school has hired security personnel to sit and monitor the cameras while school is in session, Manchester High School Principal Kevin Mowrer said he has started using more than just the rewind button when it comes to his school's 40 surveillance cameras.
Mowrer said the monitors in his office give him a "real-time" look at what's going on in the hallways and let him know where support from his staff is needed most.
Much like Manchester, school administrators in Chelsea also have taken a more proactive approach to surveillance. Almost every door at Chelsea High School locks after school begins and, said Vice Principal Julie Deppner, students have to communicate with the main office staff through a camera mounted at the student entrance to get building access once the first bell has rung.
In cases where a student is running late, Deppner said the cameras at Chelsea are used basically every day. For more serious issues like theft or parking lot damage, Deppner said the cameras are reviewed more like two or three times every week.
The deterrence factor
Like Deppner, most administrators said they reviewed their cameras on a regular basis, but a much smaller group actually believed the extra surveillance doubled as a deterrent. Though Deppner said she thought theft and vandalism at Chelsea High School had decreased in the two years since the school has had surveillance, she was quick to point out that the building's 36 cameras haven't seemed to deter students whose minds are set on mischief.
"Our kids are very smart and they know exactly what areas are seen on camera and what areas are not," Deppner said. "And often if there are things that students want to do, they'll make sure it's in an area where there isn't a camera."
School resource officer Ryan Bidwell, who works in the Van Buren school district, said he's dealt with a similar problem at Belleville High School, but agreed that the school's 12 cameras have been a deterrent to theft and vandalism in areas where student activity can be monitored. In areas that the cameras don't cover, including bathrooms and locker rooms, Bidwell said incident levels have remained fairly consistent.
When it comes to spontaneous fights and arguments, however, most school administrators were in agreement that those kinds of situations would arise even if cameras weren't hanging in high school hallways.
"Kids are kids, and typically if it's a fight, that means emotions got the best of them," Williams said of the students at Saline High School. "They aren't thinking ahead to the fact that they might be on camera and it usually just rises out of somebody being hot headed."
The cost factor
Whether they're used as evidence or a deterrent to trouble, surveillance camera installation at every local high school has come with a hefty price tag, but not every school district paid for the high-tech tools in the same way.
In Chelsea and Saline, where districtwide camera installation costs exceeded $100,000, large bonds passed to build new high schools helped secure funding for added surveillance.
At Belleville High School, local Police Chief Gene Taylor helped secure a matching grant that meant the school's 16 newest cameras cost just $4,000. Taylor said donations from Rotary Club and other local groups helped take care of the costs that the grant didn't cover.
Although Milan High School Principal Ron Reed wasn't sure how much the 20 cameras cost when they were installed with the new building five years ago, he said that the added security at Milan has been money well spent in terms of student safety and good use of taxpayer dollars. He also said that the added surveillance has given administrators a chance to pass on the costs of misbehavior to those responsible.
"What we've been able to do because of the cameras is instead of absorbing vandalism or damage back into the community's budget, we've been able to eyeball the person who did it and give that family the bill," Reed said.
The downside of technology
Every school district has a different approach to surveillance and Ypsilanti, Chelsea and Belleville have gone as far as to include cameras in their middle schools and elementary schools. But what local administrators are wrangling with is that technology still has its limits.
Deppner said when administrators in Chelsea have to rely on cameras to find a culprit, they're usually successful fewer than 50 percent of the time. She said that when cameras are perched high above parking lots or in the corners of a cafeteria, it's often difficult to get a clear look at students' faces.
For Ron Wiedbusch, safety consultant for Ypsilanti public schools, people are still the best way to make any school safe.
"Nothing replaces staff visibility," he said. "Nothing replaces the proximity of people to deter problems that will take place."
Although Wiedbusch said he reviews the 120 cameras scattered throughout the Ypsilanti school district every day, he emphasized that technology is still just meant to complement the teachers and staff in charge.
In Saline, Williams said human interaction always has been the most important tool to keep students safe.
"The more we're out and about, the better and clearly the cameras are secondary in supporting that," he said. "All the cameras are going to do is document the stranger entering the building. They're not going to identify that stranger or raise the red flag, so to speak."
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