Avery Trace Middle School will soon have expanded security coverage after the school board approved the purchase and installation of three new exterior cameras.
The three cameras, along with software and installation, will cost the school system an estimated $11,200. Principal Lesley Herron said the cameras will integrate with the district’s existing system but will offer a much wider field of view than the cameras currently in place.
“These three cameras are actually what’s called a 270-degree camera,” Herron said. “So we get a wide range of view, and the purchase of these came from the need to update our cameras on the outside of our building.”
Herron said the school currently has very few cameras on the exterior of the building. Herron said two cameras will be installed at the academic front of the building, while a third will be placed near the YMCA entrance, which serves as the school’s main public entrance and the location for morning car drop-offs.
“We had no view out on the front of the building,” Herron said. “So that’s kind of a big upgrade for us, to be able to see who’s coming in and out of the building from that view.”
Herron said if an incident happened during drop-off and pick-up times, the school would very easily be able to go back and review footage. Herron said the new cameras are also significantly clearer than the exterior cameras currently being used.
“The cameras that we purchase are state-of-the-art cameras,” Herron said. “They’re very clear and very easy to zoom in and out of, so it gives us a much better and updated picture of what’s going on on the exterior.”
While the three cameras will fill the school’s largest security gaps, Herron said the project is only the first step in a larger effort to upgrade the campus system.
“Student and faculty and staff safety will always be the number one priority,” Herron said. “Parents drop their kids off with us, and their expectation is their kids going to be safe all day long, and that’s the top priority for us.”