CLEARFIELD – All Clearfield Area School District buses will soon be equipped with a security camera system, announced Superintendent Terry Struble during Monday night’s school board meeting.
A $185,000 grant was awarded to the district by the School Safety and Security Committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) as part of the School Safety and Security Grant Program, which was created by lawmakers in 2018.
Eligible uses for the grants include hiring school security officers, purchasing security-related technology, completing safety and security assessments, implementing violence prevention curricula, offering counseling services for students and creating other programs to protect students.
Struble said the district will have a seven-camera security system installed on all 43 of its school buses. It will cover almost every seat, plus views over the driver’s shoulder at the front door and of external surroundings.
He said the system has built-in alert notifications that will allow the driver to “highlight” a timeframe, during which he/she suspects there’s a problem or concern. This, he said, will allow bus guards and administrators to quickly review that portion of the video rather than playback hours of footage.
Struble said the district joined a pricing consortium based in the state of Texas, which allowed it to get a better price on its camera system. He also noted that the district was previously awarded a $25,000 grant that will be used for its school resource officer.
“This grant program has already proven to be very successful in helping local school districts take the steps they need to make our students safer and our school buildings more secure,” said Senator Wayne Langerholc Jr., who serves on the School Safety and Security Committee, in a previously-published press release.
