Cameras improve security at school, district official says

COLDWATER - One hundred and forty-five new security cameras have improved safety monitoring and security at the school, a district official says.

Homeland Technologies Group recently installed the cameras throughout the building and football field along with updated software at a cost of $154,000 paid through the district's classroom facilities fund.

The cameras and software will streamline recordings and provide playback. The equipment also will give more administrators access to the feeds, technology director Robert Smith said at Tuesday's school board meeting.

Motion sensors activate the cameras, which record continuously but send video to the main hard drive for archiving only when movement is detected, Smith said. This saves time when replaying video because administrators can quickly scroll to the point of movement.

The new system also provides a live stream that can be viewed on a television, computer or through a mobile app, he added. The software was installed on multiple administrators' computers, unlike the previous software, which was installed only on Smith's computer.

The three school offices have TVs showing live feeds to help ensure exterior doors are secure, Smith said.

In other action, high school teacher Thad Forsthoefel shared the results of his students' first foray at the High School Ethics Bowl on Saturday at the University of Findlay.

Coldwater's team, senior Jenny Grieshop, juniors Kylie Post and Mckenzie Brunswick, sophomore Jesse Jenkins and freshman Kaitlin Break, placed as runners-up to the team from St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati, he said.

The group had only about a month to prepare for 15 possible cases that covered various levels of ethics, he said. They discussed five cases in the course of eight hours with each case taking about an hour to consider.

"We started out the day a little slow but as we wore on, we really improved ourselves to show that we could talk ethically about political issues, government issues, issues of society," Forsthoefel said.

The students handled the issues well, but their lack of eloquence might have been the team's only weakness, he added. One issue the students discussed was whether the voting age should be 18 or 16.

Charmaine Bettinger of the Coldwater Athletic Boosters updated board members on the Cavalier Stadium improvement project.

Phase 1, which consists of new locker rooms and a multipurpose building, is complete. Students in wrestling, golf and track have used it for practices, she said. An open house is set for 1-3 p.m. April 17.

Phase 2, which consists of improving the restrooms and concession stands under the home bleachers, is set to begin May 9. The move-in date is slated for Aug. 1. Final renderings and cost estimates for the phase are not finalized, she said.

"I'm hoping that we're going to say that this was a good investment and something that we can be proud of," she said.

Also on Tuesday, board members,

• approved the 2016-2017 district calendar.

• approved the district EpiPen program for the remainder of the school year.

• approved a donation of $83 from Coldwater Parent Teacher Organization Booster Group to help offset the cost of the first-grade Christmas field trip.