If students at Clawson’ Michigan schools were unsure if they were being watched as they made their way through the hallways, they can be sure now. A plan to install 42 more security cameras and upgrade the school’s monitoring systems that was approved by the Clawson School Board in May was recently completed and should give school administrators an improved vantage point when it comes to school security, said Ryan Velzy, the technology director of the Oakland Intermediate School District. “

The new system will allow administrators to monitor what happens inside a building – and especially outside of facilities,” he said. “We conducted audits with the principals of each building do that we could find out what the specific needs were.”

Monique Beels, Superintendent of Clawson Schools, said the former system was outdated and needed to be replaced. “”I’’m not sure how old some of the cameras were, but many of them were too old to be (repaired)”,” she said. ““We needed a system that can provide the security we need at the schools. With this system, administrators can monitor the hallways from their offices, and if they see that something is wrong, they can address it immediately.” The upgrades began at the schools during the summer and work was completed at the end of October”, Beels said.

The new equipment, monitoring systems and installation cost $157,900; the district used money from its technology fund to make the upgrades.

The new high-tech system allows administrators to monitor what’s happening in their buildings on their computer screens, as opposed to a closed-circuit television system the district used prior to the upgrades.

Monitoring can also take place on hand-held devices so an administrator can access any camera in the building no matter where they are in the facility, Velzy said. The system also enables the Clawson Police to access the system if there’s an incident in one of the buildings. […]