Merrick School District looks to upgrade security

In light of recent vandalism at local schools, the Merrick School District is looking into the possibility of installing infrared cameras outside each of its three elementary schools to provide night vision, Assistant Superintendent Christine Grucci said at a recent South Merrick Community Civic Association meeting.

Grucci said that upgrades to the camera systems would be discussed at the next Board of Education meeting on Nov. 9. “We have an antiquated system, and we're looking to upgrade it,” she said at the civic meeting.

According to Grucci, the new system would allow school administrators to have access to the camera feed from their work and home computers.

The school’s current camera system only saves video footage for a limited amount of time, and has trouble detecting clear images at night. “One of the problems we have is that we can't detect any faces at night,” Grucci said. “Most of the vandalism happens during the evening hours, and the faces were unrecognizable.”

Grucci said she was informed by police officers that while footage from infrared cameras may still be dark at night, it is clear enough that they are able to obtain “a good idea” of who vandalism suspects are.

In addition, a new camera system would save video footage for a more extended period of time. “If something happens on a weekend, we would be able to give a DVD to police,” according to Grucci.

Also at the meeting, Grucci said that she, along with Ben Elias, the recently appointed school facilities supervisor, would soon meet with the district’s insurance company, the Nyser Insurance Agency, to discuss other possible upgrades in school security. A former FBI agent employed by Nyser will survey the grounds and point out areas where security needs to be improved, at no charge to the district.

According to Grucci, Nyser informed her that Merrick is “not alone” when it comes to vandalism. "Nyser had the highest rate of vandalism claims for the last 10 years over the past six months,” she said.

Although budget season is still months away, Grucci, who is the head of business and technology for the district, said she wants to get the cameras installed as soon as possible so she can adjust the budget accordingly. “We're going to start it early so we can present any budgetary items to the Board of Education in the beginning of the school year,” she said.

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