Parents push for cameras in school

AMHERST – Spurred in part by the fact that two Souhegan students have been charged in a fatal Mont Vernon home invasion, a pair of parents have asked the Souhegan School Board to install security cameras at the school.

The request is the latest stage in a long-running debate about the school’s practices under the Coalition of Essential Schools model, in which there are no bells, students call teachers by first names, and juniors and seniors who have good grades and parental permission can come and go as they please.

“There are quite a few parents out there who feel strongly that there’s way too little safety and security inside the school and around the perimeter,” said Mont Vernon resident Lisa Kershaw, the parent of a Souhegan sophomore and two Amherst Middle School students.

“We ask the board to start the process (of looking into camera systems),” Kershaw said in presenting a petition to board Chairman Steve Coughlan. Kershaw was accompanied by another parent, Karen Tuthil.

Kershaw said the petition carried 67 signatures.

Coughlan said the board would review the matter and address it at a future meeting.

Kershaw said school cameras might have allowed staff to notice something in the behavior of seniors William Marks and Quinn Glover, who are charged with burglary, conspiracy to burglary, and robbery in connection with the Oct. 4 home invasion that killed Kimberly Cates.

“It may have changed the way things ended up happening,” Kershaw said.

Unlike most school systems, Souhegan is governed largely by a Community Council, which is a committee of faculty, community members and, mostly, students, which sets school policy and makes recommendations to the administration and the School Board.

Proponents of the system believe that giving students a strong voice is in itself a valuable educational tool and a responsibility that all of them take seriously, but Kershaw thinks it goes too far.

“It’s crazy that the kids have this kind of voting power,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Kershaw said School Board members told her that if the camera issue gets enough support, they’d recommend it to the Community Council, which would then discuss it.

According to interim principal Jim Bosman, the final say in such matters rests with the School Board, which either sustains or makes changes in the Community Council recommendations.

The council, which was formed in 1994, is tasked with reviewing any issue that impacts student life, Bosman said.

“Historically, the (school) board has placed great value in the council’s recommendations,” he said. “I can’t think of an instance where they had to change or veto a recommendation.” As for installing cameras, Bosman said the matter will be discussed at council and board meetings, but that Souhegan isn’t currently lacking in security measures.

“The building is secure, in the sense that there are only two unlocked entry points during the day,” he said. “We have a very secure campus, there’s always someone monitoring the parking lot, checking cars coming and going, and of course, we have the school resource officer on campus.”

Amherst Police Chief Peter Lyon said last Monday he supported security cameras in schools.

“To me, the real question is where they should be placed to provide greater security and safety for our children than we have right now,” he said.

Lyon said that the middle school and both elementary schools in Amherst have security cameras, as does the Mont Vernon Village School, which feeds Souhegan.

The idea of putting cameras in Souhegan has come up twice before but was not approved.

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 31 or dshalhoup@cabinet.com.