When Helias Catholic High School students return this fall, the school will be equipped with a new Internet-based security camera system.
Travis Reinsch, the school's facilities director, said the system will allow the inside and outside of the school to be monitored by high-definition, streaming video.
School personnel will be able to watch live feeds from hand-held devices, using an app that dovetails with the system, he said. Before, the video wasn't high definition and could only be viewed on monitors.
"Pretty much the entire campus will be protected with the surveillance (system)," Reinsch said.
Inside, the school is replacing 14 existing cameras and adding six new ones. Outside, where no cameras previously existed, 14-15 will be added.
Reinsch said the cameras will save the video on a server for at least a month. The video captures multiple frames per second at between 2-5 megapixels per frame. That will allow digital zooming to better see faces or license plates, for instance.
The cameras also will be equipped with infrared technology that will allow the cameras to see in the dark for up to 60 feet.
Most of the cameras are triggered by motion detection, he said.
Helias hasn't had a big problem with vandalism or other crimes in its property, Reinsch said, but he said the new video monitoring system will act as a deterrent more than anything else.
"A lot of it is just security - safety for the kids," Reinsch said. "It will deter the possibility of vandalism. With our sports teams, we have a lot of kids who park their vehicles either until late at night or overnight, and it just helps the safety of the vehicles, makes sure no one vandalizes or have any thefts of the vehicles."
Reinsch declined to provide the cost of the new system, which is being provided by Capital City Telecom.
The same company will monitor doors to the outside of Helias' buildings, much like Sonitrol did in the past. If a door has been compromised, text messages will be immediately sent out to Helias personnel.
Also over summer vacation, the school is contracting with Harold G. Butzer Inc. to rewire the heating and cooling system to conform with the system that will be used for the school's new addition. Helias recently broke ground on a $4.5 million administration, chapel and fine arts addition - the first of a planned three-phase addition.
Helias also is in the process of taking bids on a new bell system and PA system.
Like the camera system, they will be Internet-based, and programmable. A prerecorded message from the principal, for instance, can be set to go off at the certain time in the classrooms.