The new system will enhance safety in the district’s 66 schools — which are currently being monitored on outdated technology — and will include vape smoke detection and other features, school officials said.
Earlier this month, the Newark’s board of education approved a $12.1 million, two-year contract with Turn-Key Technologies of Sayreville to install the new system.
School district officials spent over a year seeking bids that would fit their proposal for the surveillance system, according to the contract.
The new system will replace outdated security cameras that can not be accessed remotely and have limited storage capacity, officials said. The new security cameras have real-time playback that can be accessed from various locations.
The cameras’ AI features allow the district to program the system to detect specific objects, including vehicles, and offer advanced video search and analytics capabilities.
There are currently 2,200 outdated, analog cameras located across the city’s public schools. The district is replacing those with 7,200 new, high-tech cameras.
Cameras will be placed both inside and outside of schools, officials said.
Funding for the project will come from various sources, including local financing, expiring COVID-19 relief funds and emergency relief funding.
The need for enhanced security has been something the school board has been “sounding the alarm on for a while,” officials said during the May 2 meeting. Allison James-Frison, a recently elected member of the school board, said she visited all 66 district schools to learn their needs and safety was a top concern.
“The timing of this is very sensitive and we need to have it,” Valerie Wilson, the school’s business administrator, said during the school board meeting.
“It is sensitive because it supports making our school safer, provides access to data for the district and uses federal funding that is set to sunset at the end of September,” Wilson said.
The school board did not specify exactly where the cameras will be placed, but addressed some safety and privacy concerns.
While the district has a partnership with the Newark Police Department, authorities will not have access to the school district’s surveillance system, officials said.
“I want to be very clear to everybody that in no way shape or form will this result in an invasion of privacy of anyone — students, staff or otherwise,” Wilson said.
“Cameras and devices will not and can not be placed in areas that are not approved or authorized,” she said.
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