By Bill O'Neil
Two South Texas school dostricts are taking a high tech approach to keeping your kids safe--as the debate over arming teachers goes on. B oth the Comal and Northside Independent School Districts are moving ahead with plans for adding surveillance cameras at elementary schools--Northside's plans would put the entire surveillance system under one umbrella across the district.
"It also will inlcude access controls. It will also tie in burglar and intruder alarms--as well as fire alarms" Northside ISD's Pascual Gonzalez told 550 KTSA News. Officials with the Comal ISD said there plan is an expansion of what's already in place there--with more than eight-hundred cameras in use inside and outside of middle and hogh schools.
"What we're lookign at is moving the cameras to the elementary schools" the district's Julie Jerome said. Both distrricts have one thing in common--they don't see arming teachers as answer to making classrooms safer.
"Yes, we've cerainly talked about it--but we're not there" Jerome said. Gonzalez said there are better answers.
"Putting guns in teachers hands is a very simplistic answer to a very complex issue" Gonzalez said--seeing a need for more assistance on the mental health side in preventing future tragedies.
