Published: December 05, 2008 12:36 am      

Boosting school security

Upgrades under way in county

FAIRMONT — Thanks to two grants from the state School Building Authority, Marion County schools are receiving some security upgrades.

In his State of the State address two years ago, Gov. Joe Manchin promised legislative dollars to improve security at West Virginia’s schools.

Since then, the SBA has doled out money to each county for increased security measures, such as limiting access to one door and adding security cameras, said Superintendent of Schools James Phares.

“There’s an emphasis on security across the nation,” Phares said. “Most of the harm that comes to schools is through intruders, so we’re limiting access to the schools.”

Marion County has received more than $600,000 in the last two years for upgrades to security features, he said.

With some of the grant funding, video cameras will be installed at all three high schools. Installation of the cameras and surveillance equipment began this week at East Fairmont High. That video surveillance will help school officials see different parts of each school campus, and they will have a record of what occurs.

“There will be a record when folks do things they shouldn’t do during school hours or after school hours,” Phares said.

Fairmont Senior High School principal Chad Norman said his school has had a video surveillance system for a few years now. That system came in handy a few weeks ago when vandals entered the building and damaged school property.

“I know the cameras will help police the school and make for a safe learning environment,” he said.

The video system isn’t just internal; the cameras will be connected to a live feed on the Internet. Only school and county administration and local fire and police departments will have access to the secure Web site, Phares said.

The general public will not be able to view images from the cameras, he said.

In the event there is a situation at one of the schools, Phares, law enforcement and fire personnel will be able to see exactly what’s going on and know how to best respond, he said.

Each elementary school in the county will receive a state-of-the-art entry system, just like the one at West Fairmont Middle School.

The building’s doors will be equipped with magnetic locks, which can be released by the school’s administration. Entry to each building will be limited to one door. That door will be equipped with a buzzer and a security camera. Any visitor to any building will have to push the button, identify themselves to the office staff, who will have to disengage the locks to allow the visitor to enter the building.

E-mail Katie Wilson at kwilson@timeswv.com.