BURLINGTON, Iowa – An Iowa school district is the first in the nation to being recording staff interaction in the hallways.
The Burlington Community School District will be deploying body cameras for principals and assistant principals this fall.
MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK
The move, which will capture administrator interaction with students and parents, will protect everyone involved, they say.
“It’s personal accountability,” Superintendent Pat Coen tells the Des Moines Register. “Did we treat this person with dignity, honor and respect? And if we didn’t, why didn’t we?”
Coen says the move is to set high expectations for conduct — something he learned while serving in Afghanistan in the Army National Guard.
Soliders wore cameras on their helmets.
“You always knew that if you messed up, the whole world got to see you mess up,” according to the superintendent.
“It wasn’t so much about catching the other guy, but collecting how we did on the operation and how can we do it better.”
MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes
But not all are on board with filming students and parents.
“They’re not in the dark alleys of local streets on the midnight shift,” says Ken Trump of the National School Safety and Security Services. “They’re in school with children.”
The College Fix notes the administrators are expected to upload their own footage daily and may turn the cameras on and off “at will.”
Aldo Leopold Middle School Principal Mark Yeoman urged the district purchase cameras after he was accused by a student of kicking him.
The incident was captured on school security cameras and the principal used it in his defense by showing it to the parent.
“They didn’t have to take my word over the child’s word. They were able to see it,” Yeomen says.
The district spent about $1,100 on 13 cameras.
It’s unclear how long the footage will be archived.
Join the Discussion
Comments are currently closed.