Still No New Security Cameras at Sonora High Following Death Threat
Sonora, CA – In the wake of a recent student death threat, and assault last year, Sonora Union High School District Superintendent Pat Chabot calls plans for surveillance camera installations a “top priority.”
Chabot reports the school has received no further information regarding the most recent threat targeting a student and no new leads to identify a suspect. It was first mentioned earlier this month, in a story first reported by Clarke Broadcasting, the female student received a menacing note in her gym locker on Oct. 6. She faced similar bullying at the end of the last school year that escalated into a locker room assault. At the time, the student’s parent requested the school update the current campus security system, which school officials admitted was “antiquated and old.”
After the most recent incident, Chabot reported a specialist from Surveillance Systems, Incorporated (SSI), out of Rocklin, California surveyed the campus security cameras. Last week the company offered a proposal. As Chabot explains, “We met last week with SSI and made some changes on the design to better fit our school. They’re now taking it back and redesigning and coming up with another proposal for us.” Those changes deal with camera locations on campus. With regard to project timing, Chabot says realistically it will probably be spring before the installation is complete. He gives this reason, “It’s quiet a long process. Being a public agency, we can’t just go and order some cameras off Amazon and stick them up. We have to make sure we have a full design before we can even go out for bid, and we have to have three bids.”
The cost is expecting to be between $80,000 and $200,000, according to Chabot, who says that could include between 20 to 30 cameras and recording equipment.
