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Overcast Smile, you’re on camera in District 13
After the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. last December, school security has been thrust into the national spotlight and has educators across the country re-evaluating and re-assessing security systems in place.
Not soon after Sandy Hook, District 13 administrators decided to have the security systems inspected by professionals at the four elementary buildings. The Board of Education got a look at the system at its meeting last week.
Two outside firms evaluated District 13’s system in January and February, respectively, and came back with similar advice. “Based on two outside evaluators, it became clear that we should be recording the entrances and exits to the schools,” said Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Robb-Fund.
Prior to the upgrades, there were cameras at the main entrances of each school, but they did not record. The cameras were there so secretaries or greeters could see who was at the door before letting him or her inside, Robb-Fund explained.
Through Nassau BOCES, the district hired IntraLogic Solutions Inc., a security company based in Massapequa, to upgrade its security system. Lee Mandel, owner of IntraLogic, unveiled the new system, which was completed in June, to the board at its meeting on Aug. 20.
Mandel said that the district’s existing five cameras — at the main entrances at each school and one at the entrance of the district offices at the James A. Dever Elementary School — were in good shape and have all remained in use. Also, one new camera was installed in the rear of each school.
But the major difference in the system is new software that records footage and stores it for at least 30 days. Since there aren’t many cameras in the district, Mandel said, the footage recorded will stay in the system for about 90 days.
Board Vice President Debra Evans said recording who enters and exits the buildings is a good idea. “If something happens and it comes to our attention at a later date, we will have the footage available,” she said.
