Archive: Around Town

At the October 11th Lansing Board Of Education meeting board member Christine Iacobucci said that parents should have input into a plan to install security cameras in the Lansing schools before they are turned on.  The cameras are part of a capital project that included major renovations to the high school, and security devices in all three schools.

Superintendent Stephen Grimm took the position that the public not only knew about the cameras, but authorized their installation when they voted to approve the Learning, Health, and Safety project that was well publicized before it was passed in a public district vote.  Iacobucci asked that it be put onto last Monday's agenda to decide whether a public meeting should be held to get parent input.  Monday Grimm reiterated his position, giving a summary of events that led to the project.

"It was very evident that we were doing things with a security system that involved security cameras in all three buildings," Grimm said.  "That was a committee that included teachers and the architects, board members, and the leadership team.  The proposition was passed by the voters.  That's where the technical legal authorization comes to purchase the equipment."

Earlier in the meeting two parents spoke on the issue.  Joe Woelfel advocated a public meeting to determine whether there is a problem that having cameras in the schools will solve, and whether surveillance will cause more harm than it solves.  He said that an informational meeting along the lines of a meeting High School Principal Eric Hartz held to share information about changes to honors classes would be helpful.

Diane Nangeroni told the board that when the issue of cameras was raised at the time the capital project came to a vote she asked her two children what they thought.

"They said that security cameras are everywhere," she recalled.  "They walk into Target, they know they're on camera.  Maybe to them it has become sort of passé.  They're already accepting of that technology."

But Nangeroni supported Woelfel's suggestion of a public forum, saying that not everyone necessarily shares that view.

"I talked with another student, not my own child, and she feels that the administration is sending a message that the students are not trusted," she said.  "I have concerns about how and when the recordings will be used, and under what conditions they will be viewed, who will have access, how long they will be kept, and will there be a section added to the student handbook?"

Grimm noted that you don't need a policy to run security cameras, but added it is a good idea to have it in place.  He supported Nangeroni's suggestion, and said that a policy is already being developed.  He said he and Hartz would be meeting with students yesterday to share a draft of a security policy that is under development.

Grimm listed a number of incidents that illustrate why he thinks cameras are needed in the public areas in the buildings.

"We're really talking about protecting our assets, and that includes our students and our teachers, not just the physical pieces," he said.

He spoke of incidents that included suspicious vehicles on the school campus.  He said a camera in the parking lot would make it easy to identify the license plate number when a child is seen getting into an unidentified vehicle.  He reminded the board of an incident in which $2,000 of tools were removed from the high school custodial closet.  He mentioned incidents of 'creepers' targeting children.

He talked about incidents in which racist comments were written on lockers, drugs were sold, bullying and harassment incidents, some of which led to serious injuries.  He mentioned one student who was caught with 179 ritalin pills he was getting ready to sell to other students.

"Since I came here, which is about 46 months, we have had 48 Superintendent's Hearings," Grimm reported.  "Those are long term suspensions.  Nobody walks out of there without a good month or two out of school.  About 20 of them were drug related, anything from heroin, oxycodone, pot, smoking on school grounds, coming to school under the influence.  Just two weeks ago we found empty caplets that were in the toilet.  This person forgot to flush it.  A teacher found it and identified it -- it was ritalin."

Grimm said that for liability and effectiveness reasons the district has been advised by attorneys not to reveal the exact locations of cameras, but was clear that cameras will not be placed in bathrooms and locker rooms.  He said that they could help identify who went into those rooms around the time incidents occur, which would give administrators a small list of students to interview.

He said there was one incident in which a student accused a teacher of hittim him in the hallway, and a camera could have proved it was untrue.  He said it actually didn't happen, but the teacher was raked through the coals in an investigation.

"It's really about a silent witness," he said.  "If there are recordings they will give us a chance to go back and look at what's happening.  We always say there are three sides of every story.  There's what you think, what (a different) you think, and what really happened.  The camera tells you what really happened."

Iacobucci interrupted Grimm to say she had not asked for a long list of incidents when she asked to put the item on the agenda.  She asked the district to offer a forum to learn concerns of the community before a policy is developed, or even before the final decision is made to install cameras.

"As a board we need to have things quantified," she said.  "Anecdotal evidence is good for emotions, but making our decisions on the basis of data is something else.  I asked for it to be put on the agenda, not because these instances of misbehavior -- I won't call them crimes, these are adolescents and little children that we're dealing with -- they are absolutely a problem, and they're not new problems.  But what I'm hearing in the community is that this was a controversial proposal several years ago, and there is concern among students, parents, faculty, and staff and community members about whether surveillance cameras are the answer to the problem."

Board member Aziza Benson noted that it was voted on, so it is going to happen.  She said she thinks Lansing is behind in security and safety, and that cameras are better than having security patrols in the hallways.  But she added that a policy is needed to govern how they will be used.  Board member David Dittman challenged Iacobucci, saying that the project was publicized in detail and people knew aboout the cameras then.  He said that even Iacobucci knew about the cameras when the capital project was proposed.

"It was voted on by people of this district," said Dittman.  "They voted for security cameras.  Now we're going to go back and take out the cameras and waste that money?  Didn't you come as a citizen at the time and talk against this issue?  So it was on the agenda and you talked against it.  They voted yes to the project, and that was in the project."

Board member Tom Robinson suggested following established procedures.  That would mean completing a draft of the camera policy, which would then be subject to two public readings and input at future board meetings.

Dittman and board Vice president Glenn Swanson said they wanted Grimm to finish the list of incidents that justify having cameras, that he got half way through before Iacobucci cut him off.  Swanson said that she was presenting only one side of the story.

"I've had people ask when we're going to put cameras in," he said.  "They're concerned about the safety of their children.  This happened just last week.  And Tom made a good suggestion on a process to follow, where we have something that has been thoughtfully put together that is presented and people can come and raise concerns and make suggestions."

Grimm said the policy is under development, and the process Robinson suggested is established and appropriate.

"We've had abductions in Lansing," Grimm said.  "Not from the school buildings, but there have been cases of kids having been abducted.  We've had creepers.  We certainly have vandalism.  We certainly have theft.  The kid that got dropped came into the office and didn't know who it was.  There was a camera in the main hallway. It was a senior, six foot four, thinks it's funny to pick up a little seventh grader, slam him into a locker and drop him.  That kid didn't know who he was.  Neither did the other kids.  I had that kid in my office suspended in less than ten minutes.

"It's about protecting the victims," he continued. "It's also about protecting students who make bad choices. Now we can get that senior into intervention.  We can get 20 to 25 kids who were caught with drugs and marijuana into intervention.  A good majority of those kids are on track now.  By catching them doing that and being able to intervene in their lives... they still have a chance the earlier we can get to them."

Grimm said that the process raised by Robinson will be followed.  Once a policy is developed it must come before the board twice before it is adopted.  The public is invited to speak at the beginning of each school board meeting, which will provide two opportunities for people to be heard publicly on the issue.

v7i42