BEAUMONT, Texas — The Beaumont Independent School District is getting new equipment worth millions of dollars to make campuses and facilities safer for students.
School board members approved the purchase of new surveillance cameras Thursday night. This came after the approval of metal detectors in early November.
The new cameras will replace the old ones to make sure all bases are covered. The metal detectors will scan students' backpacks as they walk through them.
All the new technology costs around $7 million.
Robert Dunn is the president of the Beaumont ISD board. Not only does he feel the technology will make students safer, but he also believes it will increase efficiency when ensuring their safety.
Related: Beaumont ISD, Beaumont Police enhancing safety protocols at annual active shooter training drills
“Some kids are missing part of their first-period class because it takes so long," Dunn said. "And when you have a high school with over 2,000 kids in them, it takes a while to get them through this process."
Officials will distribute 10 new metal detectors to district schools. The 10 schools receiving the detectors are:
- Beaumont United High School
- Westbrook High School
- Early College High School
- Marshall Middle School
- King Middle School
- Odom Academy
- Paul Brown Learning School
- Smith Middle School
- South Park Middle School
- Vincent Middle School
“It doesn't require the student to basically take off the backpack and go through in an individual mode it's more of a streamlined process where they can walk through the metal detector keep the backpack on," Joe Evans, schoolboard member, said.
The new detectors are also set to help keep campuses vape free. District officials are seeing more vapes among high school-age students.
The district also plans to install more than 2,000 cameras. The new system costs $5.6 million, and 4.5 million of that will come from federal funds.
Beaumont ISD will chip-in more than $1 million out of the district's fund. The new security camera system includes a 10-year warranty.
“Since Uvalde, the state is also requiring campuses across the state to bolster security and make sure we're doing everything we can to keep our students safe,” Evans said.
The district has had metal detectors and cameras across all 27 campuses and facilities. However, officials believe it is time for an upgrade.
‘We recognized that we had some blind spots and delays with our old equipment and technology changes. We want to be compatible," Evans said.
There is no set date on when the cameras will be installed. Beaumont ISD officials hope to have the new metal detectors in early 2023.
“We want to keep all of our staff and students safe," Dunn said. "Sometimes people get through these things because you miss something. People will make mistakes, so we just want to make sure we don't have that on one of our campuses in Beaumont."