Security cameras. Door alarms. Trauma training. School districts are getting into security and safety  big time, writes Avi Wolfman for WHYY.org.

Locally:

• Haverford School District wants trauma kits to treat life-threatening injuries.
• Upper Darby School District needs airlock sensors for doors and mental health supports for students.
• Chester School District could use some staff/student ID systems.

School districts are applying for $40 million in safety and security upgrade grants from Pennsylvania offered after school shootings in Parkland, Florida and Santa Fe, Texas.

The requests are supposed to protect schools against deadly rampages, but they’re also likely to shift how schools monitor students, dole out discipline, and treat mental illness.

One clear theme emerged from the summaries: Pennsylvania schools are being monitored by more, and higher quality, video cameras.

Chad Marlow, Senior Advocacy and Policy Counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), says the expansion of school video cameras doesn’t deter crime, and can undermine students’ trust.

“I don’t think the schools of Pennsylvania are going to turn into a totalitarian state,” Marlow said. “But I don’t think that there’s any question that surveillance has adverse impacts on people’s sense of freedom and liberty.”

Read more about these security purchases here.

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