By Jason Kuo and Nathan Yeo

Without notifying the public, administrators in the Newton Public Schools installed five security cameras at Newton South at the beginning of the 2007 school year.

According to Principal Brian Salzer, the Newton Public Schools installed the cameras in response to an increase of vandalism and theft last year, in which several boy’s bathrooms were vandalized and items were stolen from locker rooms.The cameras are not yet operational, and Salzer is unsure when the installation will be completed. Technicians recently installed software that would allow his computer to view the cameras’s footage from the past 31 days. Read more »

Section: News > December 19, 2007

An Open Letter to the Community
Regarding Security Issues in
the Newton Public Schools

January 10, 2008

I am writing this letter to answer the many questions that arose around the placement of security cameras at Newton South High School and to propose some next steps to address whether or not we wish to use cameras or other technologies to assist with security in our schools, how we would use these items if we had them, and the implications of surveillance on students and adults within our buildings. As the situation at Newton South High School has captured public attention in recent weeks, I want to tell you exactly what happened there. Read more »

Section: News > December 19, 2007