In the month of February, BVH began the planning process of implementing high definition cameras on campus. The cameras are expected to be placed throughout BVH in order to monitor and discover which students are contributing to issues such as graffiti, fights and bullying. Therefore, expected areas on campus for cameras include the BVH football field, main hallways and outside bathrooms.
“As a principal, [my main concern is] supposed to be academics but it’s really student safety. Cameras are going to ensure and give more assurance to students, parents and staff that we’re going to monitor things, ensuring that everyone will be safe,” BVH principal Lee Romero said.
As Romero believes that monitoring BVH students’ safety is of top priority, implementing cameras around campus would be a necessary addition on campus. Romero further explains issues that BVH has faced in the past in relation to students safety and involvement.
“The bathrooms get vandalized all the time. We are going to have a camera outside of the bathroom so we can see who goes in and out at certain times. If a student goes into the bathroom and it’s been vandalized, we’re going to capture it in the footage because they’re high definition cameras,” Romero said.
High definition cameras offer BVH staff the opportunity to capture involved students and incidents as they zoom in clear enough to students’ faces. Moreover, vandalized bathrooms has been a reoccurring issue on campus, leaving BVH staff facing the consequences. Staff are given no choice but to close restrooms until they are cleaned and ready for students.
“95 percent of the students who do the right thing every day are good people. They’re the ones who are probably going to think, ‘Thank goodness they’re going to get cameras’ because now we could monitor who goes in the bathroom,” Romero said.
Furthermore, Romero believes that many students will look to the camera addition as a step in the right direction. He further stresses his hope for change from students on campus who are not doing the right thing by causing fights, vandalism and bullying.
“Having a security system will deter a lot of the after school and evening vandalism. It would help free up our custodians to spend more time working on our campus instead of taking care of graffiti and damage that happens,” Associated Student Body (ASB), Attendance Coordinator and Math teacher Christina Ada said.
Ada emphasizes her views of the cameras as a benefit to staff members at BVH. The benefit being more free time for staff members to complete tasks instead of spending time fixing issues on campus caused by students. Parents have also become involved in hopes of understanding when BVH will implement their cameras.
“I have more parents asking me when cameras are coming in. My answer has always been, it depends on the district, and its funding. I’ve been begging the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) to get us cameras and they said [we are] going to be first on the list, ” Romero said.
Romero describes his continuous efforts from his start at BVH to have district funding eventually go to cameras on campus. Finally, the SUHSD district has moved along with the plan after collaborating with BVH staff. Assistant Principal (AP) Tyler Arciaga shares the main goal he hopes to achieve by adding cameras on campus.
“The goal isn’t to sit there and be a big brother or spy on kids. If somebody eggs the door or writes some horrible graffiti on something, the goal is to know who it is and then take the appropriate action for it,” Arciaga said.
As cameras are expected to be placed on BVHs football field, Romero explains how they will be surrounding the stadium and capture footage out to the grass fields. Moreover, cameras will be safely added to main areas where students spend much of their time during school hours.
“We have the right to monitor these areas for student safety. To me the ones who may have issues are going to be doing the wrong things and get caught doing it,” Romero said.
Romero emphasizes how schools are given the right to film students while ensuring safety. Therefore, parents do not have the right to decline their child being filmed. Additionally, schools are allowed to search any student based on suspicion of their involvement with things like vandalism. Romero shares a challenge he has faced with parents regarding the ways to keep students safe on campus.
“As school officials, we have more power than police do on campus. That’s been the biggest challenge I’ve dealt with parents because they feel like their kids have rights on campus and I always tell them, 2,000 kids have rights for safety and we have the right to detain anyone at a school,” Romero said
Arciaga highlights school officials’ main job to keep everyone safe in a way that is not invading anyone’s rights or privacy. These cameras do not ensure they will catch students red-handed consistently, but the cameras are implemented to clarify situations where a student may be caught. Furthermore, Arciaga shares his outlook from a parent perspective on cameras in campuses.
“My kids are going to go to BVH and I’d be really glad if they had cameras just in case something happened. The same thing goes for the school that they go to now, this is all to ensure students safety as well as those surrounding them,” Arciaga said.
