Security | News

Dallas ISD approves $4.5 million in Security Upgrades

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 03/06/13

The Dallas Independent School District, with 164,000 students, has voted to allocate $4.5 million from a 2008 bond fund toward upgrading security at its schools. The district's board of trustees announced that some of the improvements will begin immediately; and all of the upgrades will start by the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.

Among the upgrades:

• Additional security cameras will be placed at secondary schools;
• All elementary campuses will get electronic door-strike buzzers with intercoms and a color camera;
• They'll also get eight-camera digital recorder systems and card-reader systems; and
• All 1,200 portable buildings in the district will get a one-way peephole.

"The additional security measures will be a great benefit to every student and every employee working at our schools," said Board President Lew Blackburn. "When students walk into our schools, we want them to feel safe, and we want parents and community members to know that we are doing everything possible to make our campuses secure. This is the right thing to do."