School security measures being considered
May 24,2005

K.J. Williams
Sun Journal Staff

Video surveillance could be instituted in Craven County middle schools and electric door locks installed on front doors if the Board of Education determines these security measures are needed.

As part of the Board of Education's ongoing discussion of security issues, a district administrator discussed a report prepared by a division of Honeywell International Inc. Honeywell operates the instant alert system that delivers emergency messages via telephone and e-mail to parents and guardians. It is slated to be in use at all schools next school year.

David Clifton, assistant superintendent for business, finance and auxiliary services, said the district could begin the bidding process next month for video surveillance at Havelock and Grover C. Fields middle schools.

Clifton told the board May 16 that preliminary estimates put the cost of 16 cameras at about $26,000.

"I think we're moving forward on video surveillance," Clifton said.

Following tours of the five middle schools, Honeywell employee Gene Foster prepared a report for the school board, recommending videocameras in "key areas at each school."

The report also recommends installing electric door locks on the front doors of the schools.

Clifton said the board could consider financing for electronic door locks as a secondary step.

Currently, all middle school visitors are required to check in at the office.

"Each school expressed concern for their ability to monitor this door due to office location," Foster stated in his report.

With security doors, school staff would view visitors on a video camera screen before granting them entry.

While the measures are designed to protect children, some research indicates the extra security can impact some students in a negative way.

Researchers at East Carolina University are studying post-traumatic stress disorders in children after natural disasters and have looked at their reactions to restrictive environments meant to ensure their safety, said Carmen Russoniello, director of ECU's psychophysiology and biofeedback laboratory.

"Children at that age can't really tell you, 'I don't like the cameras in my face; it makes me scared,'" he said. "I think as adults we have to be sensitive to that."

There is a line that can be crossed between protectiveness and creating an "atmosphere of fear" that makes children become hypervigilant, Russoniello said.

He suggested the district move slowly in implementing video cameras and electronic locks on the doors. A survey of children at one school could gauge their reactions before the security measures were widely instituted, he said.


K.J. Williams can be reached at 635-5664 or at kwilliams@freedomenc.com.