School officials not candid about cameras

Slowly, secretively and as far from public attention as they can get, Lee County Schools officials have been installing cameras in high schools, middle schools and elementary schools since 2005.

The cameras have already proven effective in recording incidents of vandalism, school officials say. But they would provide no active, live-time help should an incident similar to the Columbine High School tragedy in Colorado take place in Lee Schools, because they are not monitored in live time by police.

"We are, without giving the store away, very close to having all of our schools covered," says Joe Donzelli, director of communications for the 80,000-student school system.

But covered for what, and where and for how much money?

The cameras provide "a deterrent that may stop individuals from engaging in certain activities and they serve as "eyes" that see and record activities on our campuses," Mr. Donzelli says.

Officials will not say how many schools still lack cameras. Nor will they say how much money the security system has cost, or what kind of cameras they've purchased.

The cameras record events in public areas both inside and outside the schools, such as exits, entrances and main hallways, but not in private areas such as locker rooms or bathrooms, Mr. Donzelli says.

The paranoia about telling taxpayers what they've spent on the project, or how many cameras they have, and where, stems at least in part from Lee County Schools Attorney Keith Martin.

"I did not advise (officials) not to tell you, I told them they didn't have to reveal that information under (Florida Statute 19.071)," he says. The statute designates surveillance techniques and resources as not part of the public record, without defining what that means.

Mr. Martin says it means that officials don't have to reveal information about bidding and contracts, or sums spent by taxpayers for the cameras, or the numbers of cameras.

"I told them that by revealing how much is spent," Mr. Martin adds, "somebody could determine an average cost per camera (and estimate) how many schools don't have them."

He would not say how this might be a threat, or from whom.

Both Mr. Donzelli and school employees say that although the systems are not now integrated with police agencies to provide live-time monitoring of schools, ultimately they could be. Officials on a construction advisory committee for Lee schools in 2007 noted that cameras are monitored at the Lee Public Education Center, and strategically placed by police and security officials.

But Lee County officials established "a wireless digital system allowing the county sheriff 's department to tap into cameras in individual schools from police cruisers parked nearby, a technique designed to facilitate swift response to a life-threatening emergency," according to a 2006 report appearing online in the journal School Planning & Management.

Mr. Donzelli says it hasn't happened. "As far as I know, we haven't reached that level of ability yet."

Instead, the cameras record events 24 hours a day, and can be used later to document what has happened.

At East Lee County High School officials used cameras to help determine later who was responsible for a hazardous materials rumor and evacuation of students and staff, Mr. Donzelli says. And at Estero High School, "they had some students who vandalized some vending machines, or I should say allegedly vandalized them, and the cameras played a role in the identification of them."

Officials from Estero High School did not return a telephone call asking them to describe the incident, or to discuss how the cameras would help enhance security at the school.

There are now 93 traditional public schools in Lee County, along with 19 charter schools. If each of the 112 county schools employed five cameras — the number counted by a reporter in a one of the smaller county schools — Lee County Schools would own 560 cameras, plus all the supporting equipment required to make them functional.

Money for the cameras has come completely from grants, and not from the schools' budget, which amounts to $1.55 billion for 2008-2009, according to Mr. Donzelli. He cited the Department of Homeland Security as one source of funds, and a program called Safe Schools as another.

Although parents and teachers often accept the presence of cameras as deterrents to misbehavior or crime, a number of analysts have suggested that little evidence exists showing that cameras prevent crimes.

Students, however, are frequently made uncomfortable by cameras in their schools, including middle school students, who are most likely to be victims of in-school crime, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

"I don't like them at all, for privacy reasons," says David Hyder, an eighth grader at Lee Middle School. "If you're having an intimate conversation or you're in a relationship with someone, it's just open for anyone to see."

His classmate, Savannah Holubar, agrees. "Security cameras are an invasion of my privacy and I feel like it's creepy knowing people are watching me. Even though I know they're used only for security reasons, the room they keep (the monitoring screens) in is open for anyone to see."