DOBSON — Student safety has always been a priority for Surry County Schools. In that light, the school system has recently taken more steps to ensure that that remains the case.

At the Feb. 2 board of education meeting, Chuck Graham, assistant superintendent, briefed the board on a new security measure that will assist EMS and law enforcement personnel who may need to respond to an incident at a school.

“We are working with John Shelton and Emergency Services to do campus-wide mapping. That would work with EMS and law enforcement so they would have available to them a blueprint they can view enroute,” said Graham.

The blueprint and aerial views of each campus within the system are available to emergency personnel to download onto their computers. The access would allow them to know beforehand which entrance to use to access the person in need of help. Teachers and administrators within the schools would be able to give more detailed directions over the phone to direct them to the right room before they even reached the campus.

The campuses are also in the process of installing large letters on the outside of the school to designate each entrance and clearly numbering the rooms. The new system would be similar to the one used by the community college to label buildings.

“Obviously there are benefits from the safety aspect, but even with day-to-day activities such as parent meetings, chorus concerts or band concerts, teachers would be able to give parents more specific instructions,” said Graham.

Aerial maps of the school campuses are currently available to law enforcement and EMS personnel and Graham hopes that all of the schools will have signage by the end of this school year.

In addition to increased measures on campus, the system is continuing to improve the technology available on school buses as well. In the next budget request, the school system will ask for funding for about 20 new cameras for buses. There are now 45 buses with cameras and 59 without. Additional cameras, which will be purchased as funding becomes available, would go to buses serving the high schools and middle schools first before trickling down to the elementary schools.

The new camera system will operate on a computer hard drive and will show multiple angles. The hard drive will allow data to be stored for 10 to 12 days whereas as the current system has to be pulled from the buses every day. The multiple views will allow the video to film beyond the first few rows on the bus which is difficult to see with the old system. The system would also have audio as well as video capabilities.

“It’s a safety feature for everyone involved,” said Rodney Hardy, director of transportation for Surry County Schools.

The new camera system will also have the option of having GPS capabilities. The GPS system will not initially be activated in the cameras because there is not enough funding to provide for that. If a GPS system were activated on the cameras, it would provide the opportunity for live video streaming from the bus to the schools. It would also provide a tracking feature to show where each bus is at a given time.

“Right now, it is certainly our desire to have the best we can afford. We are trying to see if we can get the cost down (on the GPS). Right now it’s not feasible cost-wise,” said Graham.

The school system is also piloting a new program for the state Department of Public Instruction involving the installation of a speaker system in a bus. A microphone attached to the system would allow the bus drivers to communicate effectively with all students, even those in the back of the bus. The microphone would be activated by a foot pedal, meaning the driver would not need to remove his/her hands from the wheel. The system is similar to those found in charter buses with speakers over each set of seats.

“It’s gone over very well so far,” said Hardy of the speaker system, which was tested on some students at Surry Central High School. “Hopefully, it’s something DPI will approve.”

With technology changing daily, it is difficult for school systems to stay on top of the newest advances, but the administrators try to ensure the students’ safety regardless of the technology in use.

“Our number one concern is always student safety,” said Graham, noting that it is mainly up to the people to maintain this standard. “Primarily, the people are doing a wonderful job, and technology will make that better. We want to look into any and all new technology.”

Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.