11/12/2017 School Board Meeting

Hello, As you guys know, there was a school board last night (Monday the 11th) at the SAU25 building. I would like to preface by saying that the board, the principals, and the superintendent were all great people to work with. They allowed for flexibility in the scheduling, were very open to ideas, and were very friendly. So, I will start with the main highlight of the night. The budget. So I had been telling people that the cameras would cost only $200, however this statistic is not true. It is actually $4,500 per camera (just a LITTLE off...) and we would need 6 cameras, totaling to $27,000. This is a lot more than I was expecting. However, Mr. Paul Brock of the school board stated that the cameras are "not an issue of cost" and I can see why. I stayed to watch the board debate the budget and there were numbers like $500,000 being thrown around. In comparison, $27,000 is irrelevant for student safety. Also, I would like to note that the cameras will be TEMPORARY. They will not be permanently mounted to the walls. Ideally, we will put cameras up, remove all the new policies except for the teachers checking bathrooms, then slowly ease back on the cameras as long as there are no more threats written. Also, Mr. Hagen spoke about the credibility of these threats. He stated that he "cannot ignore them" as we all knew, but he also raised another valid point: social media. Although a threat might not be deemed as credible by the administration, once it falls into the hands of students we all know that it spreads like wildfire through Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. Should a parent see this, they might see it as credible and call the school or police. So if cost is not the issue then what is? Privacy. The board's main objection is that a fair amount of privacy is lost when installing cameras. This is also why the cameras will be temporary. In terms of privacy, it is not a major invasion to have six cameras near the bathrooms. However, it could create a very slippery slope. Once the cameras go in near the bathroom, what is to say that they will not install them in the stairwells? Then the hallways? Then classrooms? Mr. Hagen responded to this by noting that the cameras in the buses have been in place for around 10 years. This is the first new addition that we have seen on the camera front. One addition every 10 years is nothing major, and these cameras are also temporary so they will certainly be gone before 10 years. Lastly, I know that you guys wanted to know how long the footage will be stored and where it will go to. A parent actually asked this question. The administration stated that the footage will be kept for no longer than 10 DAYS unless the footage is called into question. This is the same for the bus cameras. The footage is sent through the Ruckus system, the same system that the bus footage goes through. In terms of who can see the footage, the administration will be able to view the available footage and if there is a clip called into question and a student is confronted then both the student and parent will be able to see it. The footage is not disclosed to the general public. Now, as Mr. McGee and Mr. Hagen stated, cameras will not solve every problem. However, it will certainly flip the new rules as well as deter crime. I still encourage everyone to stay alert and lookout for each other even once these cameras are installed, however. On top of building a better community, it will also ensure that no other issues such as these arise. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me on Snapchat @wjh_bernier, Instagram @w_bernier, or send an email to william5bernier@gmail.com. Thank you all for the continued support and I hope you have a great day.