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Five Prince William schools were recently awarded state grant funds to upgrade security equipment, the school division announced in a press release.
Dale City and Enterprise elementary schools were awarded grant funding for a total of $133,332. Prince William County Public Schools said it will match 25% of the funding, bringing the total to $166,000. That money will go toward the installation of new Verkada closed-circuit television systems, also called CCTV, at both schools.
Mountain View and Penn Elementary Schools and Beville Middle School will also undergo Verkada CCTV installations with the help of $343,000 in funding through the Stronger Connections Grant allocations by the Virginia Department of Education.
“We applied to update the CCTV systems to provide current technology in schools,” said Ron Crowe, director of the division’s Department of Risk Management and Security.
“Research has shown that using current technologies in schools has a measurable impact on student safety and learning, and that supportive, positive and safe school environments enable effective teaching and learning,” Crowe said in the school division’s release.
The funding is part of the larger $12 million in state grant funds the Virginia Department of Education announced will be put toward school security equipment grants for upgrades at 483 of the most-needed schools in Virginia.
The Verkada cameras record in high definition and can be reviewed remotely on mobile devices. The cameras also have other security features, such as facial recognition that reduces video search times and unlimited cloud storage of saved video.
