Hallsville School District approves security camera system expansion
HALLSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Hallsville Board of Education unanimously approved the purchase of additional security cameras on Wednesday.
The Hallsville School District will be purchasing 47 additional cameras from Tech Electronics, which brings the total in the district to around 170. The total cost of the equipment and installation is $49,985. The purchase will be reimbursed through the state school safety grant.
Hallsville was one of 169 Missouri school districts to be awarded the school safety grant from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education last year. It includes $20 million to provide school districts with school safety grants. The program aims to support physical security upgrades, technology in facilities, bleeding control kits, automatic defibrillators, and more.
Hallsville was awarded $150,000; and it was one of the approved projects to be funded by the grant is the expansion of the district's security camera system. The board had until May 20 to spend that money. According to Hallsville School District communications director Kari Yeagy, expanding the district's camera system has been something that has been on the board's wish list for a while and the safety grant finally made it happen.
"We're very thankful; for the safety grant," Yeagy said. "It helped with our keyless entry completion, and it helped with film on our exterior doors and then this is going to be the third part that's going to round off the safety grant for our district."
The district received quotes from multiple vendors regarding the camera equipment, but voted to approve the purchase from Tech Electronics. The district has worked with Tech Electronics in the past and a new security system from them would be integrated into an existing system that was previously bought from them. It was something that factored into the board's decision.
"With this camera expansion, they were part of our previous purchase a few years ago which means they are compatible. You don't have to worry about running two different systems, looking at two different monitoring systems and it just keeps everything streamlined," Yeagy explained.
The expansion of the security camera will help with increased monitoring of their facilities within the district. Yeagy told ABC 17 that she has been a part of the Hallsville School District for 12 years and safety has always been a top priority.
However, now that technology and funding have increased, the district is seeing some more tangible security efforts.
