OREGON, Ohio (WTVG) – Now that many schools are back to in-person learning, some of the pandemic concerns have now shifted back to on-campus safety, and Oregon City Schools are upping their safety practices through new technology and increased security.

The school district is increasing its security cameras to cover the blind spots inside and outside the schools, making safety the faculty’s number one priority.

They will be installing 25-35 additional cameras in the unseen areas, including the back hallways, parts of the front and back parking lots, at the football stadium, and in the cafeteria. The security cameras are monitored from computers and cell phones by the school administration, resource officers, and the Oregon Police.

“There are instances in schools where we need to know exactly what happened, not just the story told by one person or another,” said Hal Gregory, Oregon City Schools superintendent. “Our new cameras, you can almost zoom into almost a pen-size view to be able to see what happened or what the object is or whatever.”

Right now, the district has 275 cameras throughout the schools, with 100 at Clay High School. They hope to have these additions in place thanks in part of the funding from the Federal Cares Act by the upcoming school year.

“So if there’s an emergency situation, we’ve practiced protocols to where certain individuals pull up the cameras and lock themselves down so they can watch what’s going on and communicate out what they’re seeing as it’s going on,” said Greg Sigg, Clay High School Assistant Principal.

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