Local
Ashley Grade School adds DVR camera system
By TESA CULLI
tesa.culli@register-news.com
ASHLEY — The Ashley Grade School continues to address security concerns, and now has a DVR surveillance system in place at the building.
“We’ve had cameras before, but it was an outdated retrieval system for the information,” Superintendent Dr. Kay Bennett said. “It was recording to VHS tapes. Now we have a DVR system, which is very lovely and wonderful. The cameras we had were good, so we are using them with the new recording system.”
Security became a focus at the grade school after a second grade student found a loaded .22 caliber handgun in a school bathroom prior to classes starting on Oct. 6. The girl went to one of the maintenance staff and said she found something for them. The school immediately notified local law enforcement, and the school went on lockdown for two hours while police searched the building. A parent meeting was also held during the week of the incident.
“The system now records when there is motion in the building,” Bennett explained. “It will hold current data up to two weeks, which could prove to be quite useful at some point.”
Bennett said she has not received any information about whether the owner of the gun has been located by Washington County Sheriff’s deputies, although there are many rumors being spread.
“Everything we hear are just rumors,” Bennett said. “We won’t address rumors. Until something official happens, we are waiting to hear official word.”
Bennett said the new surveillance system isn’t the only security issue being addressed. New doors have been put in the front of the school — a move that was already planned before the incident with the handgun — but also looking for an enhanced entrance system such as a buzzer or security card.
“Right now, all the doors are locked and visitors have to enter by the front door at the office,” Bennett said. “We’re constantly going through the building making sure all the doors are closed. They are locked, but sometimes they are left unlatched. We do know that we will have to replace them all at some point.”
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