The school district's technology coordinator and network administrator began lobbying for surveillance cameras in the Taos High School, New Mexico, to avert the usual mischief that high school teens get into. But with the building being used by the University of New Mexico for evening classes, after hours security was another area of concern. Coupled with the fact that the high school housed an enormous inventory of technology components, both for computer classes and maintaining systems for the whole school district, Taos needed a surveillance system that could ensure the safety of its students and technology assets.
The school district's technology coordinator and network administrator began lobbying for surveillance cameras in the Taos High School, New Mexico, to avert the usual mischief that high school teens get into. But with the building being used by the University of New Mexico for evening classes, after hours security was another area of concern. Coupled with the fact that the high school housed an enormous inventory of technology components, both for computer classes and maintaining systems for the whole school district, Taos needed a surveillance system that could ensure the safety of its students and technology assets.
Over the next several years, Taos Municipal Schools will be working with CDW Government (CDW-G), a source of information technology solutions to educators and governments, to deploy 100 network cameras from Axis Communications to ensure the safety and security of its student body, staff and school property. The first 25 cameras will be installed at the high school. Another 25 will be deployed at the middle school. And the remaining 50 will be divided among the district's three elementary schools.
In the initial phase, the district deployed Axis day and night network cameras at 21 points of entry into the high school. Since their installation, the cameras have caught a student in the act of pulling a false alarm. Robert Spitz, technology coordinator and network administrator for the Taos Municipal Schools, expects he will be expanding coverage as school administration and security personnel single out other areas around campus that they would like to monitor.
"Given the reports I've seen from other cities about how much damage two or three vandals can cause in a couple of hours, I think the school board and the citizens of Taos agree that the protection of our students and property is well worth the investment in our Axis multicampus surveillance system," said Robert Spitz, Technology Coordinator and Network Administrator for the Taos Municipal Schools.