OREGON, Ohio — Oregon City Schools will soon be expanding their state-of-the-art security camera system.
There are more than 100 security cameras on Clay High School's campus both inside and outside the building, the most out of any school in the district, because of its large campus and student population size.
Safety is the number one reason for the system's installation, although it has other purposes too.
"We use it for legal reasons after we have a fight, vandalism, thefts; stuff like that," said Scott Wamer, Dean of Students at Clay High School.
Certain staff members such as the principal, assistant principal or school resource officer can access the live camera footage from anywhere. It can also be viewed at the Oregon Police Division's dispatch center to track a person's movements at any school.
"If we have an active shooter type situation, we can instantly pull the cameras from a cell phone, or from a computer or from our dispatch center," said Mark Potter, a School Resource Officer at Fassett Junior High School.
The district has around 275 cameras and they're looking to expand to around 300 to cover certain blind spots. They also want to upgrade their camera software.
They expect to receive $6 million over time through federal CARES Act ESSER funding, some of which will be used to pay for the camera and software upgrade, although a budget hasn't been set yet.
"Cameras are just a tool for our staff to use and a deterrent for our students and anyone externally knowing that they're not going to be able to sneak onto campus. We're going to see them," said Hal Gregory, the Superintendent of Oregon City Schools.
Clay High School has a handful of spots that don't have great coverage, according to Wamer, but it may be determined after an evaluation there's a greater need for other campuses to acquire cameras.
The evaluation will be done in the next coming months and the district's aiming for the changes to be in place by the next academic year.