June 2007 — News

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Case Study: NJ District Ramps Up Security for Laptop Deployment

by Del V. Salvi

The quality of academic programs has become a significant competitive factor among high schools in recent years. This is particularly evident in top private schools like St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, N.J., a co-ed, Catholic high school operated by the diocese of Trenton. At St. John Vianney, the institutional program is geared toward college preparation, offering honors, advanced placement and special needs courses available in all disciplines. At a 98 percent college placement, it's clear that St. John Vianney has made a commitment to providing academic excellence.

Education in the age of technology increasingly includes the use of computers as a tool for research, organization, and study. Since not every student has access to a computer at home, many schools are beginning to provide computers, along with books and desks for students to use. After speaking with other schools that have made the commitment to laptops, the administration at St. John Vianney High School made the decision to pilot a program for the 2005-2006 school year. Under the supervision of Susan Conrad, technology coordinator at St. John Vianney, the network was upgraded to include wireless access throughout the building. And for the first time in school history, an entire class of incoming freshmen was issued laptops.

Increased Concern
With the addition of 500 laptop computers came new concerns about security in the building. Overseeing the process of equipping the school, both with the new computers and with a new security system, was Principal Joseph F. Deroba.

"We looked at products from a number of companies, with special attention to systems that offered network capabilities," Deroba said. "With Panasonic Security Systems, we liked the fact that the system was not computer dependent, but self-contained digital. This meant that we would still have video surveillance if our servers shut down. The images also are accessible over the Internet, which gives flexibility to managing the output." For the design and installation of the video surveillance system, St. John Vianney turned to Sectegra. Company President Joe Lonardo had been working with the school since 1996 and had installed wiring for the school's new computer network via another company he owns.

"We proposed three different solutions," Lonardo said. "St. John Vianney decided to develop the system in phases, beginning with a 16-camera, single DVR solution for phase one. We designed coverage for the main entrance of the school, plus all the corridors where lockers and classrooms are covered – basically the entire academic wing. All of the cameras are vandal-proof."

Because of varying lighting conditions throughout the school hallways at different times of the day, Sectegra designed the system to use different types of cameras that highlighted equipment strong points, including flush-mount and day/night capabilities. School officials also were concerned about eliminating common backlighting problems and achieving exceptional images in highly contrasted lighting.