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Bryant putting cameras in class |
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Monday, 08 September 2008 |
Starting only with alternative school; already in students’ common areas
Cameras with audio will be installed in the next three to four weeks in the Bryant Alternative School.
Superintendent Richard Abernathy said the school board recently accepted a bid for the cameras from Arkansas State Security Corp.
Bryant School District has cameras installed in common areas of its newer schools, like Salem Elementary and Hurricane Creek Elemen-tary, but the alternative school will be the first Bryant school to receive cameras in the classrooms, said Lesa Lindberg, director of Alternative Programs, Credit Recovery and K-12 summer programs.
The Bryant School District follows the model policy 4.48 of the Arkansas School Boards Association, which says that the board has a responsibility to maintain discipline and safety of its students and staff, while at the same time protecting district property and equipment.
The cameras can be placed in the classrooms under the assumption that staff and students have no reasonable expectation of privacy anywhere on or near school property with the exception of when privacy is “reasonable and customary,” such as restrooms or gym dressing rooms, explained ASBA staff attorney Kristen Gould.
“You can put a camera anywhere you could put a school administrator. It all goes back to reasonable expectation,” Gould said.
“We’re not comfortable not having security in that building,” Abernathy said.
He said he looked at different systems, including the security system in the Benton School District, which Abernathy said was a quality system. The 15-20 cameras that will be installed in the alternative school, as well as the welding department building next door, will cost $38,368, he said.
Lindberg said neither she nor her teachers “know anything about it,” noting that she learned about the plan to install the cameras only two weeks ago. “I don’t know when [they are being installed] either.”
When asked why the teachers weren’t told directly about the cameras, Abernathy said, “We advertise in the newspaper about bids and board meetings. If the question is, do we have something to hide — absolutely not.”
Lindberg said the administration is hoping that the cameras serve as a deterrent for students who are “on their last leg” in the school district.
“I do think it’s a good idea,” she said. “There are always parents who say ‘I don’t think my child did that.’ The student is saying they didn’t do it. ... We can pull it up on the camera and say, ‘Yes, they did.’ We have a situation that is upsetting to the environment.
“It does close up pathways,” Lindberg said of the negative side. “We do have students here who need more. That’s why it’s an alternative setting.”
Science teacher Richard Walls agreed to both aspects.
“When I first started here at the alternative school, the purpose of the school was that we would help students with emotional and behavioral problems. It stifles openness and honesty. This school is all about relationships and trust and having cameras at every corner [does not indicate trust].”
Walls said that the school is hoping that the cameras will give the students a reason to behave. But, he said, it also disturbs him.
“It disturbs me that we need a camera to prove we are telling the truth,” Walls said.
“When [the teachers] first found out what was going to happen, we were unhappy. But that just might be our reaction to change.”
Math teacher Bob Williams said, “No comment.”
“I’ll be honest with you,” Lindberg said. “The teachers do feel uncomfortable about the cameras being in the classroom.”
The welding department, which is a part of Bryant High School but just recently had a shop built next door to the alternative school, is also receiving cameras.
Shop instructor Terry Harper said, “I don’t mind. I think it’s good for safety.”
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Razorbacks
