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Board approves high-school parking lot cameras, license-plate readers for $67,005.70
Summary
The board approved a $67,005.70 purchase from Prime Secured for cameras and license-plate readers at the high school; discussion covered placement, law-enforcement access and privacy concerns raised by an online commenter.
The Lewis Central Community School District Board of Education approved a $67,005.70 contract with Prime Secured on Oct. 6, 2025, to install security cameras and license-plate readers at the high school parking lot.
District staff said poles with power were already placed when the high school parking lot was redone and that the new equipment will provide better coverage of both sides of the lot. Officials described the planned camera and reader placement at the high school entrances so the system can capture vehicles entering and leaving the lot.
During discussion board members and staff noted technical and privacy details: the district will hardwire the license-plate readers (requiring fiber) rather than use cellular connections to avoid recurring monthly service charges and potential signal issues. Staff also said the district recently switched to an educational enterprise license to allow unlimited cameras, which increased software costs but removed per-camera license limits.
An online commenter, identified as David Burgett, urged the board to look deeper at data use and access. District officials responded that the district’s information-technology staff — identified in the meeting as Chris Evangelisti — vets systems and that law enforcement will have access to camera footage upon request. District staff said license-plate readers can be configured to alert if a flagged plate (for example, a wanted vehicle or a registered offender) enters the lot.
Board members discussed operational trade-offs, including false positives from weapons-detection software (which can be triggered by nonthreat items such as wooden props used by the marching band) and the option to expand readers to other sites later. The motion to approve the Prime Secured quote carried unanimously.
Vote (recorded): Mister Sorensen — yes; Mister Sturm — yes; Miss Atkins — yes; Missus McDaniel — yes; Missus Peterson — yes; Missus Shuffle — yes; Mister Wright — yes.
District staff said the system can be expanded later and that the middle school would be next if the district chooses to add readers there.
