Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • January 30, 2013 Ramsey Last week, the Ramsey Board of Education held a presentation concerning a proposal to bring an updated security system to Ramsey High School. A formal vote on this issue is scheduled for the board’s Feb. 26 meeting, which will be held at the high school at 7:30 p.m. A committee formed by John Nunziata, the past president of the school board, has been looking at security at the high school since 2012 – many months before the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. That committee includes Chairman Jim Meiman, Tim Finnegan, Richard Muti, School Board President Anthony Gasparovich, several parents, and school staff members. At last week’s well-attended school board meeting, the committee outlined the results of its 10-month effort to identify the areas of greatest need in terms of security. The committee identified the top priority as the high school, which has an open campus policy that allows students to leave for lunch during the school day. In addition, the high school is used for programs that take place before and after regular school hours. The security system now being proposed for Ramsey High would bring 80 to 90 surveillance cameras to the school. The cameras would be installed at various locations inside and outside the building. Meiman told Villadom TIMES that the security system would also include a way to check the driver’s licenses of visitors to the school building. Promedia of Little Falls submitted the proposal for the security network that would cost approximately $300,000 to $330,000. Promedia is a vendor on state contract, which means the company has been pre-approved to work in New Jersey school districts, and no public bid is needed. Meiman noted that the $330,000 cost estimate could be reduced by approximately 10 percent if the district uses some of its existing technology infrastructure. Those who heard the proposal had questions about how the system would be monitored, and how images from the cameras would be reviewed. After the meeting, Meiman noted that the camera images can easily be reviewed and, in the event of an emergency, the system could be instantly accessed by the local police department. School officials indicated that the board currently has money in capital reserve, so some funds are already available for this project. If the board approves the camera installation by Promedia, the work would likely be completed over the summer months. February vote due on security