Some school board members said they want to leave the decision to the next board, which takes office in January, but the majority of those participating in a Monday work session discussion of the camera issue said they are ready to vote.
“Once this decision is made, it’s almost impossible to go back,” said Mount Vernon District member Dan Storck. “We should make sure to take sufficient time to make this decision.”
Storck suggested that the current board make a recommendation to the incoming board, instead of deciding now.
However, with the support of most board members, the issue will be on the agenda as new business Dec. 1 and then come up for vote Dec. 15, according to school board Chairwoman Janie Strauss.
“My term ends Dec. 31. I have been working on this issue since May,” said Springfield District representative Liz Bradsher, who did not seek re-election. “I think we have the information to move forward as a board, whether we decide to move forward with this or not.”
In-school cameras are currently used by neighboring public school systems in Prince William, Loudoun, Stafford, Fauquier and Culpeper counties.
In the proposed policy the school board is considering, cameras could be placed in high school cafeterias, lobbies and other large gathering places. The camera would not be monitored, but the recorded footage could be used to investigate incidents that occur in a school, according to Dean Tistadt, the school system’s chief operating officer.
While some board members raised concerns about privacy and trust -- and others felt the vote should be left up to the newly elected school board, taking office Jan. 1 -- the majority said at a work session Monday that they felt ready to vote for the cameras in an effort to bolster student safety.
"Imean no disrespect to our Founding Fathers -- they were great guys -- but ... it's a different world today," said Elizabeth Bradsher, who represents the Springfield District. "We have social media tools, and kids can do flash mobs in an instant."
Food fights at two high schools in her district, Centreville and Robert E. Lee, made headlines last spring and prompted the county's High School Principals Association to ask the school board to allow them to install cameras in their cafeterias and other high-traffic areas.
All other area school districts except Arlington County allow in-school surveillance. Currently, Fairfax's policy allows only outside cameras.
Of 11 present board members, six explicitly said they wanted to vote by year's end while expressing support for the cameras.
School Board Member Tessie Wilson said an elementary school in her Braddock District had an incident last week when several students told administrators that a man had come into the cafeteria and grabbed them.
"It was a parent who thought someone was bullying his son, and ... according to students, he grabbed the students and started cussing them out," Wilson said.
Assault charges might be filed against the man, Wilson said. "It's going to be a he-said, he-said situation," and she would support the cameras for their ability to tell objective truths.
Stuart Gibson, the board's Hunter Mill representative, said he was concerned that students' privacy was being invaded in a space they were legally required to be.
"What's the next step? Then we want to put them in the hallways? Then we want to put them in the locker rooms? At some point ?-- it's not going to end," he said.
At meetings convened by their principals, 80 percent of the high schools' parent organizations voted to support, or at least not oppose, a policy that allowed cameras in schools. The changes would not require principals to install in-school surveillance, but would make it an option.
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