Camera upgrades were installed at the Keota School District this month to prepare for the upcoming school year. The district has used PPEL and SAVE funds to make security upgrades to the school since the arrival of Keota Superintendent Jim Henrich in 2017. Some of those previous improvements include a door lock upgrade system at entrances that requires visitors to be buzzed into the building, and cameras at main entrance points of the building and the bus stop in front of the school. The newest upgrades are cameras that monitor the playground area, parking lot, weight room and interior cameras on all five buses in the transportation fleet. This week, Henrich spoke with KCII news about the installation and improvements “Probably three areas that we have focused on. When I got here, none of our doors were locked during the day so we put in buttons for visitors to be buzzed into the building and their picture pops up. We put cameras on the main entrances and the main bus stop out front. The most recent step is cameras on the playground, it’s kind of a hidden area on the back side of the building, camera’s in the parking lot, one in the weight room and we had all five buses outfitted with interior cameras.”  

He stresses this is an on-going project for improvement, and they continue to explore other technology upgrades. Other groups that have contributed to fundraising for these projects include the Keota Advocates, Keota Boosters and the Keota Education Foundation.