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Video cameras
watch students
Surveillance nabs
high school miscreants
By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON
and LOU HATTER
, Rappahannock New* staff Writer*
On the basis of evidence gathered by video camera, one student at Rappahannock County High School has been found guilty of petty larceny and five others have been barred from extracurricular activities for five days for abuse of school property.
“Two specific situations” comprise the extent of video surveillance at Rappahannock County High School to date, said Superintendent David Gangel, adding “I don’t want to call it a common practice.”
Dr. Gangel, who was apprised of the camera use after-the-fact on both occasions, said video surveillance is a last resort to be employed “only when other avenues haven’t panned out. ..Asa principal, I have used it in the past. It’s one of the resources an administrator has to consider.”
Other neighboring school divisions forego the resource, however.
“We use video camera for classroom taping so teachers can critique their own teaching,” said Alan Beamer, Culpeper’s Director of Instruction. “But everyone knows they’re there. The camera are set up in front of the class.”
He said that on occasion, cameras have been used in resolving a classroom discipline problem, giving as an example when a kindergartener or first-grader is hitting other kids, and parents, who are unable to come to the classroom to observe, insist their child doesn’t misbehave in that fashion at home. ‘“Would you believe it if you could see it?’ we ask them, and under those circumstances, we sometimes will film a class, but for trying to find out who did what, no, we’ve never used video cameras for that,” Mr. Beamer said.
Assistant superintendents Robert Leonard in Warren County and Frank Drumheller in Madison both reported that to their knowledge, video cameras have never been used for student surveillance in their school systems.
“I don’t know of cameras ever being used for that purpose,” reported Tammy Bannister, who as coordinator for Fauquier’s teacher resource center, handles all video equipment.
Dr. Gangel confirmed that Rappahannock schools have no policy or guidelines setting out the circumstances under which it is deemed appropriate to use video cameras to monitor students. “You have to depend on the judgment of your people,” he said.
“We had a long-term theft problem going back for years,” said RCHS principal John Toth, explaining that he had suggested trying a video camera to catch the thief. According to Mr. Toth, the thefts this year were occurring during one class period. “Students were coming up to me very, very upset that they were missing more than $20 taken in that particular class period.”
The camera was set up in the locker room during physical education class, its eye aimed at a jacket with a dollar bill visible in the pocket, and then students were to be asked by the physical education instructor to retrieve something from the room. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there
See VIDEO, p. 14
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