School board approves purchase, installation of security cameras

The campuses of the Piggott school district soon should be safer places to attend classes, thanks to action taken by the board of education at its meeting Monday night.

The board voted unanimously to have security cameras installed at both the high school and elementary school, along with the district bus garage. The company that secured the bid has indicated the installation process will begin during the upcoming Christmas holiday break. The system should be up and running by sometime in January.

Three companies submitted bids for the security camera network, with ArCom Systems of North Little Rock winning the bid process. The other companies were SecurAlarm of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Enterprise Security Systems of Charlotte, N.C.

The ArCom bid called for the installation of 23 cameras within the buildings at the high school and an additional 11 around the outside of the campus common. Plans also called for the installation of four cameras around the outside of the elementary school building and one at the bus garage. The total amount of the bid was $77,365.

During the process of reviewing the bids, board members also discussed the best method of paying for the project. The consensus was to use the remaining funds from the gym/classroom project building fund as opposed to waiting for possible stimulus monies.

"If we go ahead and use the building project money, we can get them started on this right away," board president Neil Morgan noted. The board then instructed district treasurer Sheila Mayberry to proceed with the project in that manner.

The initial phase of the project calls for the installation of lines throughout the campuses and then the addition of the cameras. The bid noted that all the cameras operate on the power sources provided by the system, but that outside units do have heaters that may require additional electrical wiring.

In a related note, the board voted to table the effort to purchase security cameras for nine school buses after receiving just one bid. The matter was tabled until more bids can be secured, or it can be verified that only one company is interested in bidding the job. The matter will be revisited at the January meeting.

In other action the board:

* Discussed the ongoing process of developing a teacher evaluation system. The board heard that the state will implement a new set of guidelines for uniformity, but that it may be two years before it will be complete. "We want something to go by, but we'd like input in the matter too," Morgan said. The matter was tabled until the January gathering to allow Superintendent Ed Winberry time to gather more facts. Winberry has not been working the last several weeks as he has been recovering from health issues and had asked for more time to gather facts on the matter.

* Voted to hire Debbie Scott as an aide at the elementary school. Scott has recently been working as a substitute teacher at the campus.

* Decided to table the issue of hiring an R.N. for the district to the January meeting.

* Approved expenditures and the financial report for November.

* Voted to instruct Winberry to seek an Arkansas Department of Education Scholastic Audit for kindergarten through 12th grade at the request of board member Julie McMillon.