Osceola County looks to upgrade security in schools

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The Osceola County School District is taking a proactive approach to make sure students and teachers are as safe as possible.

A team of workers is going to every single school in the district looking for holes in security.

Osceola County could soon have more surveillance cameras on its school campuses as the district takes a closer look where it needs improvement.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, school board member Jay Wheeler discovered cuts to security over the last couple of years.

Some parents questioned security even more after a man barged into a St. Cloud elementary school in December while he was high on drugs.

The district is now planning to open up its wallet.

"We need to give staff the opportunity to talk to people and put the fixes in place or the improvements in place to make our schools safer," said Wheeler. "Some schools may need expanded systems if they had a new wing built."

Part of the upgrades could include adding more video cameras to monitor who is outside the school buildings. All buildings already have them, but now it's a matter of making sure schools have enough.

"Do you think the district it doing enough to keep the school's safe?" Channel 9's Racquel Asa asked parent Ada Velazquez.

"No, not really. They should do more.  A lot more," said Velazquez.

Velazquez is glad the district is looking to spend more money on security. But that doesn't change her mind on homeschooling her kids.

"Have you walked into your kids' school and just walked in there," Asa asked Velazquez.

"I could walk in there right now and walk around if I want to," said Velazquez.

"Our schools are safe. We are just looking to make them safer," said Wheeler.

The district said for security reasons it wouldn't elaborate on the changes it is planning to make.

The district plans to have companies selected for the projects by April.

WFTV