Gilroy High School’s 10 security cameras that cover the campus
are a fact that is both encouraging and worrisome. Repeated acts of
vandalism on the GHS campus prompted officials to install the
cameras, which are mounted high atop several buildings throughout
the campus. Each camera can be aimed remotely to provide a wide
area of surveillance.
Gilroy High School’s 10 security cameras that cover the campus are a fact that is both encouraging and worrisome. Repeated acts of vandalism on the GHS campus prompted officials to install the cameras, which are mounted high atop several buildings throughout the campus. Each camera can be aimed remotely to provide a wide area of surveillance.
Knowing that the administration can keep an eye on students has made some wary.
“They’re definitely intimidating,” said student Alex Williams. “… I think it’s another invasion of our privacy.”
But others aren’t bothered by the presence of the electronic eyes.
“It doesn’t make a difference to me, I think it’s kind of ridiculous,” said student Alyssa Habing. “I don’t really think it’s doing much.”
The cameras have mixed reviews among GUSD administrators as well.
“I think that’s had a big impact,” said Roger Cornia, the district’s safety officer. “We can watch so many more areas.”
But GHS principal Bob Bravo isn’t so quick to credit the cameras with reducing incidents on campus.
“We can make an assumption that the cameras are a part of that picture, but we don’t know how much, exactly, they are to account for the difference,” Bravo said.
Everyone involved makes good points.
But the bottom line is that district officials have has a duty to the parents and students of this district to provide a safe place for students to learn, and to the taxpayers of this district to reduce costs from vandalism, and to reduce liability from lawsuits should, God forbid, a Columbine-like incident occur here.
And with the hoax hostage threat that GHS recently endured, the need for the cameras was reinforced. In fact, we wonder why only two district schools – GHS and Solorsano Middle School – have camera systems. Sadly, in our post-Columbine world, similar surveillance systems ought to be installed at every campus.
But that doesn’t mean the cameras don’t give us pause – they do. Trustees and administrators should review policies for access to the live feed and archived tapes from the cameras. There need to be clearly defined and strictly enforced rules about who has access and why.
In the wrong hands or used for nefarious purposes, the tapes have the potential for damaging uses ranging from the merely inappropriate to much worse.
The guidelines should be presented to the community and discussed at school board meetings by administrators, trustees and the community, altered if necessary and formally adopted.
The cameras can and should supplement live, human supervision of students, and they do act as a deterrent for acts of vandalism – and worse. But they place a burden on the district to act responsibly to protect the live feed and tapes.
