District earns grant to improve school safety District earns grant to improve school safety (December 02, 2005)

New locks and surveillance cameras in the future
by Rebecca Guyon

Schools in the district will be getting new locksets and outdoor surveillance cameras next year courtesy of a grant from the Secure Our Schools (SOS) funding program. Senior Director of Pupil Services Rich Puppione wrote the approved grant proposal, earning the district $318,175 to make these changes. The Board of Trustees voted to match those funds, totaling $636,350 committed to making the project.

"Staff has talked about making these changes for quite some time, but they are expensive, especially the locksets, and we'd want to do it at all the sites," said Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Sandra Lemmons.

All classrooms in the district will be re-keyed so they will lock from the inside. Currently, teachers and staff have to open doors, exit their classroom or office and lock them from the outside. Changing the locks will allow teachers and staff members to quickly secure their classroom in the event of an intruder on campus or a security emergency.

Security camera surveillance systems will be installed at Foothill and Amador Valley high schools and Hart, Harvest Park and Pleasanton middle schools in outdoor areas. Although it has not yet been finalized where the cameras will be placed, the district is considering installation in parking lots, swimming pools, quad areas and food service lines. There will be no cameras in indoor areas such as classrooms and offices. The cameras are intended for after-hours surveillance and to monitor potential criminal activity on school facilities. School staff and police department personnel will be able to view the system, which will be on a digital platform with a Web-based server.

"This has been a dream of mine," said Trustee Kris Weaver. "I'm not excited because I want to catch students, but because I think cameras are a huge deterrent."

The SOS grant was actually given to the City of Pleasanton and the city will reimburse the district after it installs the locks and cameras. The City Council and the Board of Trustees each approved the agreement. The trustees also agreed to use $75,000 of carryover funding from the Carl Washington Safety grant as part of the matching funds to the SOS grant.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services established the SOS grant, which is allocated from the federal budget.

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