A total of 117 security cameras are to be installed at Port Townsend High School (PTHS) and Blue Heron School this summer as a school security project before classes begin.
The Port Townsend …
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A total of 117 security cameras are to be installed at Port Townsend High School (PTHS) and Blue Heron School this summer as a school security project before classes begin.
The Port Townsend School District board voted unanimously July 17 to approve a $151,399.97 bid from Double D Electrical of Port Hadlock to install 49 cameras at Blue Heron School and 68 cameras at PTHS.
“They would probably be able to start [work] as soon as the 24th” of July, said John Polm, Port Townsend School District superintendent.
At present, the schools do not have security cameras, he said.
Polm said the cameras were one of the school’s safety projects. The cameras are to be placed both inside and outside of school buildings, and the video footage is to be digitally recorded and stored for up to 30 days.
“That way, if we were to have a break-in or something like that, we could provide video evidence for the police,” Polm said.
The cameras also make investigating school incidents easier, he said.
“I was a high school principal for many years, and I can’t imagine actually running a school without security cameras,” Polm said.
“The opportunity for students to feel safer – things like harassment, intimidation, bullying – all those incidents actually decline because you do have cameras.”
For students who “might be inclined to do something inappropriate, it acts as a deterrent,” Polm said.
The cameras are to be installed at all entrances and exits, at spaces near restrooms, in main hallway spaces and in the gymnasium.
Cameras are not to be installed in classrooms, he said.
The school district estimated the cost of the camera system to be about $170,000 and received three bids. The lowest bid, from Double D Electrical, was lower than expected at $151,399.97. A second bidder, Security Services Northwest Inc. of Gardiner, bid $194,021, and Bird Electric of Poulsbo bid $194,648, according to school documents.
Double D Electrical’s bid includes $20,100 for wire and lift rental, $66,889 for cameras, $42,337 for labor, $5,790 for possible change orders, $4,077 for a bond and $12,164 in sales tax.
Polm also said Grant Street Elementary does not have cameras installed, but that the new Salish Coast Elementary School would have them.
