ANDREA KLASSEN

Medicine Hat’s public school board will once again examine installing security cameras in its senior and junior high schools.
Trustees at School District No. 76 agreed Tuesday to study the use of cameras in other school divisions and create a draft policy on their local use.
If adopted, it could lead to the installation of surveillance cameras in hallways and common areas in both of the city’s public high schools, as well as expanding the security program already in place at Alexandra Junior High. School board chair Gitta Hashizume says the request came from school administrators, backed by parents in the division.
“They've looked at it a number of times over the years, and have just decided to do some research and investigation on it,” she says.
Lorne Cooper, principal of AJHS, says students want the school’s 10 year-old security system expanded and want to see cameras in place when they graduate to high school.
“We did a massive survey with our students, in terms of what they thought were issues and how they could see making things better... and what was coming up quite often from the kids was additional security cameras,” he says.
Crescent Heights High School principal Rick Lane, meanwhile, says the push for security cameras at his school came from the parent council.
“It’s simply one of those things people have been discussing for some time,” he says.
Public school principals first raised the issue in 2000, though only AJHS installed cameras.
The discussion has already drawn criticism from trustee Deborah Forbes, the only board member to vote nay.
Forbes says she hasn’t see hard evidence the cameras reduce harm in schools, and adds that the systems, which could cost $60,000 per school, could be “expensive, and possibly not productive.”
“I know there’s significant support from parents, and it’s with the best of intentions, but my opposition to it is (because) no one was able to demonstrate through the literature that it makes a difference.”
Cooper says he hasn’t tracked incidents, but feels that anecdotal evidence suggests there’s a reduction in fighting and bullying.
“If people feel they’re being watched, they’re less likely to do the wrong thing,” he says.
Lane says a district-wide policy, which would cover who has access to footage, how long it’s kept, would help schools keep cameras from becoming intrusive or violating student privacy.
“It's a very difficult issue. You want to be very, very careful that you’re using security cameras for the right reasons.”
But, he adds, "Security of students, and the safety of students is more important than the privacy issue.”
A draft policy will take at least two months to complete.
After that it will come back to the school board for further discussion.