Security Cameras Overdue
The Pony Express Editorial Board
District employees have frantically rushed to repair student vandalisms that have occurred on Pioneer’s campus over the past few years.
The district plans to put in security cameras in spring 2017 through funds from 2012 Measure H bonds. However, the installation is long overdue, as Pioneer underwent many expensive vandalism clean ups over the past two years. In comparison, after the Thanksgiving escape of two inmates from the Santa Clara County Main Jail, it only took two weeks for a plan to install more than 200 cameras to come together.
Students have glued classroom keyholes, splattered paint on the west side of campus, and defaced various parts of the school — the graffiti included images opposing Donald Trump on the side of the PAC and phallic symbols and swastika drawings on doors— and the district has come time and time again to repair it.
Earlier camera installation could have saved some of the district’s maintenance budget, preserving it for more important repair projects, and the cameras themselves could help ward off future incidents before they happen.
Pioneer is a busy campus both day and night, with over 1,600 students, athletes, and often unwelcome visitors. Our own classroom often has empty beer cans near the door in the morning. But the abuse on campus is not limited to walls and doors. Substance abuse has become more common, especially during our Friday night football games where surveillance is needed to monitor students under the influence. Football games are now a social event where students can get buzzed and deal drugs.
Without security cameras, there are victims and suspects, but little evidence. Administration cannot definitively give out punishment for breaking school and district policies, giving students unwarranted leeway.
The Pony Express Editorial Board
District employees have frantically rushed to repair student vandalisms that have occurred on Pioneer’s campus over the past few years.
The district plans to put in security cameras in spring 2017 through funds from 2012 Measure H bonds. However, the installation is long overdue, as Pioneer underwent many expensive vandalism clean ups over the past two years. In comparison, after the Thanksgiving escape of two inmates from the Santa Clara County Main Jail, it only took two weeks for a plan to install more than 200 cameras to come together.
Students have glued classroom keyholes, splattered paint on the west side of campus, and defaced various parts of the school — the graffiti included images opposing Donald Trump on the side of the PAC and phallic symbols and swastika drawings on doors— and the district has come time and time again to repair it.
Earlier camera installation could have saved some of the district’s maintenance budget, preserving it for more important repair projects, and the cameras themselves could help ward off future incidents before they happen.
Pioneer is a busy campus both day and night, with over 1,600 students, athletes, and often unwelcome visitors. Our own classroom often has empty beer cans near the door in the morning. But the abuse on campus is not limited to walls and doors. Substance abuse has become more common, especially during our Friday night football games where surveillance is needed to monitor students under the influence. Football games are now a social event where students can get buzzed and deal drugs.
Without security cameras, there are victims and suspects, but little evidence. Administration cannot definitively give out punishment for breaking school and district policies, giving students unwarranted leeway.
