HADLEY — Several security cameras and associated equipment will be installed at both Hopkins Academy and Hadley Elementary School to enhance safety at the buildings.
“The main driving force behind this is the safety and security of our students and our staff and our faculty,” said Steven Bigda, the district’s technology director.
The School Committee Monday gave its unanimous approval to a plan presented by Bigda, in which security upgrades could be completed as soon as the winter break in December.
“My timeline is sooner the better, based on approvals,” Bigda said.
Though the precise cost to get the cameras and technology running will remain uncertain until bids go out to hire a contractor to do the work, the initial cost to purchase the equipment from Verkada, a San Mateo, California, company, is $119,698.
At Hopkins, the project, including cameras in hallways and stairwells, environmental sensors, viewing stations and licenses, comes at a cost of $71,606, while at the elementary school, with many cameras to be positioned on the building’s exterior, the equipment cost is $48,092.
“It’s a good size project,” Bigda said
Even without the full costs of the project known, committee member Ethan Percy said he trusts the work Bigda is doing. “If it keeps kids safe, let’s do it,” Percy said.
Committee member Christine Pipczynski said she appreciates the value of the project, but added she was worried about supporting it without knowing the full costs.
At the elementary school, a newer building, Bigda said the cameras should be easier to install, since many are going on the exterior, based on input from principal Jennifer Dowd. At Hopkins, though, the idea is to have more in the hallways and stairwells, though being an older building the wiring could be more complicated.
The security cameras will come with a 30-day retention policy of footage, though Bigda said if there is an event that needs to be investigated that can be archived. He also said there is “infinite scalability” depending on the needs, and that this could be the first of a multi-phase project.
The cameras can capture what is happening in public areas, but there will be no cameras in bathrooms, making the environmental sensor useful. That can detect changes in atmospsheric conditions, which might put out an alert that someone is smoking or vaping in a bathroom.
According to information supplied by Bigda, Verkada’s system is in use at Ralph C. Mahar Regional School in Orange, the Bement School in Deerfield and the Greenfield Community College campus.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
