Stevenson High School to get security upgrade

Stevenson High School students and teachers soon will be under the watchful eye of an expanded and upgraded security system.

The digital gear will be a Web-based system, enabling police officers and firefighters to monitor video feeds from the Lincolnshire campus online. School administrators will be able to access the feeds remotely, too.

The District 125 board unanimously approved the new system Monday night. It will come from a Dallas firm called BearCom and cost $66,263, officials said.

An installation date wasn't available.

The upgrade isn't a response to an increase in crime or other activity, school spokesman Jim Conrey said.

"We just see it as a deterrent," Conrey said.

Fifteen cameras will be added to the nearly 30 analog security cameras now in place. Those older cameras will be incorporated into the new system, Conrey said.

Officials will be able to adjust what nine of the new cameras observe. The other six will have fixed views once installed.

The new cameras will be added to some areas that aren't under surveillance now, such as some hallways in the east building, Conrey said. Others will reinforce security in high-traffic areas, such as near the front entrance.

The cameras will have other uses in addition to security, Conrey said. For example, school officials can look at live images of the school's exterior after a snowfall to determine whether to close the campus.

"It wouldn't be the primary factor - talking with our buildings and grounds supervisor is still No. 1, followed by calls to the bus company and sender district superintendents - but it would be one more available tool," Conrey said in an e-mail.

The digital images from the cameras will be archived at the school, Conrey said. He didn't know how long the videos would be stored.