Seventy-five new cameras are going up in Lafayette Parish schools ahead of the new year.
Right now, the system has 276 cameras. However, more than a quarter of those are not working properly and they're being replaced.
At Northside High, there are 72 cameras installed. A few miles away, at Carencro High, there are nine.
"Cameras just help us make sure that if anything happens, we can make sure the people responsible are held accountable," said Carencro High Principal Ken Roebuck.
Since school let out, crews have been wiring buildings and installing an additional 75 cameras across the district. High schools are considered a high priority and are receiving cameras first.
"They are eyes in the sky watching you and I think it's a deterrent more than anything else," said Roebuck.
LaShona Dickerson, Director of Instructional Technology for the LPSS, says cameras will also help crack down on discipline issues plaguing the district. Numbers released to KATC reveals N.P. Moss Prep, a school Superintendent Pat Cooper has identified as the one with the most troubled students, doesn't have any cameras.
"They didn't have any because prior to it becoming Moss Prep, it was an alternative school. Not that it didn't warrant cameras, but it wasn't as much of a priority I guess," said Dickerson.
She says Moss Prep is now a high priority and will receive cameras this school year.
For a complete look at the number of cameras throughout the parish click here SchoolSecurityCameras.pdf
Chris Welty
cwelty@katctv.com