Dr. Barnes put out statement on district’s security camera systems
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County Schools superintendent Christopher Barnes has released a statement on the district’s security camera systems and artificial intelligence.
The school board voted Tuesday not to move forward with a 3 million dollar grant funded pilot program that uses cameras integrated with AI technology in schools.
Here is Dr. Barnes full statement:
“Dear NHCS Staff and Families,
I want to take a moment to speak directly to you about our district’s security camera systems, as the safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. We have listened carefully to our Board of Education, our staff, and our community, and we recognize the need to ensure our security measures are not only effective and fiscally responsible but also as transparent as safety allows.
In 2016, with funding from the last bond, we installed security cameras across 45 sites throughout the district. As technology has evolved and these systems have aged, we replaced four systems in 2022-2023 with Verkada cameras. Since several members of our community have expressed concerns regarding the nature of our camera systems and their functionality, we conducted a thorough inventory and feasibility assessment of all cameras and software across the district.
I felt it important to better understand the history of our use of cameras and their installation and how we could best maximize the potential of any new camera software that the AI grant may provide.
Through this assessment, I found that some of our newer cameras (Verkada) came embedded with software that has some features that, given the public’s concerns, I want to provide transparency about how they work and what they do.
Understanding Our Current Camera System
Our district’s newest four security camera systems came equipped with the Command Video Management Platform. This software platform includes two features:
- People Analytics—This feature has never been turned on.
- AI-Powered Search—This feature helps staff quickly review footage by allowing searches for general attributes. For example, if needed, staff can search for a “red backpack” or “black car,” and the system will analyze recorded footage to return relevant results. This AI-powered search has always been restricted to general terms, not specific information.
It is important to emphasize that the AI-powered search is not an automatic or passive feature. A trained member of staff must actively enter specific search details.
Human Oversight and Transparency
This AI is not automatic and does not operate on its own. It requires direct human input and specific parameters to be entered.
Furthermore, these features came already installed on the cameras when they were purchased in 2022 and 2023. They were not added separately or altered beyond their original design. The system functions only within its intended scope and never autonomously collects or processes data.
We deeply value the trust you place in us to keep our schools safe while respecting privacy and ethical concerns. When I learned the history of the camera’s features and installation, I wanted to ensure that I passed this information along to our community in the most transparent manner possible.
It isn’t my place to determine for you whether or not this is relevant information, since these cameras have been installed for the past two years. However, in my role as superintendent, I believe it is important to share information with all of our stakeholders.
We appreciate your support, engagement, and partnership in this important work. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Christopher R. Barnes, Ed.D.
Superintendent
New Hanover County Schools”
