Sunday, May 12, 2013

Grant helps expand safety camera coverage at La Jolla High

Thanks to a $10,000 Public Schools Grant from the philanthropic group Las Patronas to the La Jolla High School Foundation, additional safety and security cameras are expected to be installed.

The cameras are planned to be located around the perimeter of the school, in key locations previously out-of-range of the current equipment. These cameras serve multiple purposes: they are used to help prevent truancy, theft, break-ins and potential dangers for studentsqqwand faculty, among others, according to school receptionist Jo-Ellen Palreiro.

With La Jolla High’s open campus and differing elevations, this is a very difficult task.

“La Jolla High School is different from most other schools in the district, [in that] there are many nooks and crannies where students and adults can hide,” said Will Hawthorne, La Jolla High Vice Principal. “The cameras will be placed in strategic locations that give us a broad scope of the entire campus,”

There are currently 26 cameras scattered around the campus. The new funding is expected to purchase an additional 12 cameras.

According to its website, Las Patronas is a philanthropic organization with a long history of giving. Since its inception in 1946, Las Patronas has donated more than $16 million to more than a thousand charitable institutions in San Diego. The funds distributed to these organizations are generated through year-long fundraising efforts and the annual presentation of the Jewel Ball, one of San Diego’s most enduring social, cultural, and philanthropic traditions.

For more information on the project, contact Hawthorne at (858) 454-3081.

-- Tim Rayner
Editor-in-Chief
La Jolla High School
High Tide