PTSA President: Meeting on Cameras Not Flawed

In the Oct. 5 meeting of the PTSA, the school administration discussed with parents the pending policy change before the Fairfax County School Board on interior surveillance cameras.

If passed, the policy would allow cameras inside county high schools. FCPS currently allows only exterior cameras on their campuses. Oakton High does not have exterior cameras set up at the school, Assistant Principal Dianne Goins said.

After a presentation from Dr. John Banbury, the school's principal, and a discussion among the group, the parents filled out a survey that asked for their opinion on interior cameras. The PTSA did not take a vote on the matter.

The format of the meeting followed the guide sent out to principals on how to conduct the dialogues on cameras.

Assistant Principal Dianne Goins, who is also the PTSA liaison, reviewed the surveys and submitted a summary to Banbury.

Goins said she believes Banbury then reported the summary for the school board's consideration. In the countywide summary of the group discussions submitted to the school board, Oakton High is not listed as one of the schools that submitted feedback. However, Oakton High is listed among the schools that supported interior cameras in a separate document presented to the school board.

Banbury was not available to respond to Patch's request for comment.

The process used at PTSA meetings around the county to gather feedback from parents has been questioned both by some in the community and by school board member Dan Storck (Mount Vernon)

Storck said he found the community meetings "deeply flawed," with principals pitching their preference without allowing proper dialogue among parents before weighing in with their own opinions. 

"I was looking for a true, maybe a purer community engagement about the issue," Storck, who attended three of the PTSA discussions, said Monday. "We need to make sure it's done in that even-handed way that gives everybody on both sides of the issue the sense of we're approaching this in a fair, equitable way."

Chairman Jane Strauss (Dranesville) said the vote would be made before the newly elected school board takes office, which is Jan. 1.

Oakton High PTSA President Kirsten Rucker said she found Banbury's presentation of the pending policy change to be fair.

"He wasn't really driving to have these cameras," Rucker said. "... Some parents brought up Oakton's biggest problem, theft, and he acknowledged the cameras could help with that."

Banbury told parents that Oakton's cafeteria, which is often the most desirable place to position an interior camera, tends to be calm, Rucker said. Instead, he pointed out entryways as hot spots for Oakton High, if the school were to decide to install cameras.

"He went through the pros and cons with us," she said. "Parents seemed to agree that even if Oakton isn't having the same problems as other schools, having the cameras as a backup just in case wouldn't hurt."

Goins said Banbury stressed that if cameras are installed, the school would not have someone monitoring the footage all day.

"Nobody here has time to do that," Goins said. "It is a good way to make sure that if we needed to reconstruct something, we could."

Rucker said the money allocated for the cameras was also a topic of discussion among the parents.

"We did talk about where we would rather see money spent than on the cameras," she said. "I think the feeling was if the school board insisted that there be cameras that we only have a small amount, but people had other things they'd rather see money spent on."

Rucker also noted the high attendance at that particular meeting compared to most of their PTSA meetings, as they advertised it through Keep In Touch — an email listserv — several times.

In a document submitted to the school board, Oakton High is listed as having 18 attendees at the Oct. 5 meeting. Goins said she believes more than 25 attended because she ran out of the 25 copies of the survey she printed for the meeting. Regardless, "Eighteen is a very large group for our meetings," Rucker said.

Though the PTSA did not take a vote to determine the school's position on interior cameras, the first question on the survey asked, "Should your school have interior video surveillance cameras? Why or why not?" The survey was part of the guide sent to county principals on how to conduct the meeting.

Goins said some surveys from the Oakton meeting represented several parents, as like-minded parents chose to share a survey rather than fill out separate sheets. So, a tally from the surveys could not have been determined.

The other three questions on the survey asked:

• If you agree with interior cameras, what areas should be considered?  (Cafeterias, common gathering areas, other areas)
• If interior cameras are installed, how best should the school measure their effectiveness?
• What other comments on video surveillance cameras would you like to share with the Superintendent and School Board?

The proposal for interior cameras comes at the heels of two large-scale food fights that drew media attention. In late May, four  students . Two weeks earlier, more than 100 students at after a massive food fight occurred during lunch. In a survey issued by the association, 18 principals reported their schools have experienced at least 16 food fights collectively over the last two years.

Patch will be hosting a live chat at 1 p.m. today on the issue of interior cameras in high schools. Panelists include school board member Dan Storck, Lee High School Principal Abe Jeffers and Michele Menapace of Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform.