The Coachella Valley Unified School District will spend as much as $1 million to install security cameras all 21 schools in the east valley district. The school board voted unanimously, 6-0, to solicit bids for the cameras during a meeting on Thursday night.

Darryl Adams, superintendent of Coachella Valley Unified, said the purchase of cameras was not prompted by any particular crime or incident, but that added security would protect campuses from copper wire thieves, who have struck east valley schools before.

Schools in Coachella Valley Unified are currently protected by an alarm system, monitored by Protection 1, a private security company. Campuses are also patrolled by security officers. One school already has security cameras, but the outdated system is ready to be replaced, said Elsa Esqueda, district director of facilities, maintenance and security.

The cameras will be funded from the district’s “Measure D” bond, a $250 million borrowing authorization approved by voters in 2005. The district has estimated that the camera system will cost $1 million, the but competitive bidding process could lower that price tag.

The district goal is to make campuses safer, “especially after the Sandy Hook incident,” Adams wrote in an e-mail on Wednesday. […]