Woodrow Wilson security camera issue heating up

For months, concerned parents at Woodrow Wilson High School have been asking about the progress of promised security cameras at the high school. Amid growing frustration, this issue looks to be on the verge of boiling over. Last week's edition of Lakewood People ran a story about these cameras and the concerns that have grown due to their absence. Today, Fox 4 New's Shaun Rabb was on campus covering the story and spoke with PTA president Emily Martin. The story is expected to run on tonight's 5:30 news.

The concern is rooted in the fact that these cameras were to replace the security  provided by DISD funded hall monitors. These 4 monitors were not faculty, but were instead dedicated to patrolling the halls, keeping kids in class and others out of the building. Sounds like money very well spent to me. With the promise of the cameras, however, the monitors were eliminated. For two years now there have been neither. As noted in the Lakewood People article, letters have been previously sent to immediate past SBDM Chair Geena Hawryluk that specified when the  camera installation would be complete, only to have those dates pass without cameras and without  explanation. Perhaps answers will be supplied Tuesday night at School Board member Ron Price's town hall meeting at Woodrow.

Comments

[Rick Wamre]

I agree that the cameras should have been installed when promised, and I agree that the hall monitors should have been kept around until the cameras were in place. But I haven't heard of anything bad happening during the wait. Again, I agree that this has been poorly handled, etc., but (and I say this with my fingers crossed), what has been the harm so far?

[Norman Alston]

Fortunately, none of the things we would fear most. The frustration is the continued lack of progress and of explanation. Schedules pass without a word.

[Louisa Meyer]

We're awaiting cameras as well at W. T. White where we hope they would reduce theft.

We had an unusual amount of theft during bond construction when so many contractors were on campus. Although they're gone, frustrations are still high when a/v stuff disappears.

[Rick Wamre]

I caught the breathless Channel 8 piece tonight at 10 on Woodrow's lack of cameras; I only knew it was on because my mother-in-law who lives 40 miles from Dallas called, frightened, because she had seen the Channel 8 piece being promoted on their 5 & 6 p.m. newscasts about what she understood was "some type of gun problem at Woodrow today." The video piece focused on how Woodrow has been waiting for the cameras forever, yada yada, but the reporter managed to find a spent bullet casing in front of the school and was breathlessly holding that up on camera. So let's see what was accomplished today: Parents called out DISD, which has already said they can't get the cameras installed for awhile, and the parents generated enough negative publicity to frighten my mother-in-law (and perhaps anyone else tuning in to Channel 8) about the dangerous atmosphere at Woodrow, an atmosphere so dangerous, in fact, that apparently parents live in fear because video cameras aren't installed to monitor everything and bullet casings literally litter the campus. No committment from DISD to speed up the installation, though. So lots of negative publicity, which will I'm sure scare away a few prospective parents/students and maybe even some current ones, and no visible improvement in the school's receipt of the cameras. Am I missing some positive from all of this forced publicity?

[Norman Alston]

It certainly isn't the publicity we would like to have, but I'm not sure what is forced about it. That it has reached this pitch stems from literally years of goals and deadlines missed, without explanation. I think it is a testament to the cooperation and support of the community that it has taken this long to reach this level of frustration. Accountability is a pain, isn't it?

As far as positives, perhaps someone else has learned finally to ignore our ridiculous, fear mongering local tv news. As noted previously in Back Talk, even the weather reporting is given to melodrama.