Dorchester Times: Surveillance Cameras Coming To Dorchester Schools

Monday, January 4, 2010

Surveillance Cameras Coming To Dorchester Schools

The campus of Dorchester Public Schools will soon feature surveillance cameras. This news comes following approval by the school board at December's board meeting. The cameras will be installed by a company called Americom, which will also put in a new paging system throughout the campus area.

Other items of note from the December DPS School Board meeting minutes include:

A proposed timeline has been submitted by school administration on improvements for both the gym and industrial arts building.

School administration has proposed a timeline to implement goals established by the school's new mission statement.

Discussion was held on replacing the current mercury lights in the gym with T5 energy efficient lighting. Norris Power will help defray costs.

Mike Kalkwarf, district parent and patron, presented issues regarding enforcement of the school's rules for extra-curricular activities.

The next school board meeting will be Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.

14 comments:

AlumJanuary 4, 2010 at 5:48 AM
I'm sad to read about the cameras, but I guess it is a sign of the times.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 4, 2010 at 10:41 AM
First they took our firearms, now it is video surveillance. 1984 is here....
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 4, 2010 at 11:01 AM
Uh, I think the cameras are more to deter break ins than to watch students going from class to class.

Don't you people remember the big rash of break ins in the 1990s and early 2000s?????
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 4, 2010 at 2:07 PM
I think the cameras are a great addition to the school. We didn't build a new school to have it ruined by those that don't know how to appreciate it. Also, it goes to show that the school does have our children's safety in mind. Just like the fact that all sides doors are locked so that no one can get into the school with out being seen.

GREAT JOB! Hats off to the school board, administration and teachers.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 4, 2010 at 10:26 PM
i agree with mr kalkarf

punishment has always been unfair.

situations were handled by who you are instead of what they did.

and yes.............i have facts to back it up
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 5, 2010 at 7:59 AM
Let the teachers carry concealed guns and you won't need to worry anymore. *** AFTER a thorough background check of couse ***
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 5, 2010 at 8:53 AM
I always love reading the parents who say, "My kid was picked on by the school admin because of who he is, because we don't have the right last name." How lame! Put on your critical lens and wake up to the fact your kid screws up a lot and you're giving him cover. Set him straight; don't be a crutch.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 5, 2010 at 8:01 PM
It might be a good time to start looking at cutting spending since the state is in the middle of huge budget problems, The big schools up here in omaha are really looking at a big money crunch, I bet the little schools are not far behind.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 6, 2010 at 9:34 PM
Hey anon......

you worry about your schools in Omaha and we will worry about ours

we have a good solid base and if we need more money we have good farm ground to support our school.

Hell, we could build another one if we needed
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 8, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Better start selling that farm ground!!!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 8, 2010 at 2:59 PM
What are the capital gains on farm ground inherited from your grandpa who paid $50/acre??? Wish we all had such "problems" ... remember farm ground is taxed at 70% valuation, unlike your home, car, stocks, etc.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 10, 2010 at 11:21 AM
might have to mortage the farm if we do the school gym project.

seems like a lot of time and money.

whats wrong with the current gym??
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJanuary 11, 2010 at 12:50 PM
I have it from a good source that approx. 65% of the gym project is being paid for with Stimulus Package Money, which has some big strings attached (meaning it's hard to spend on meaningful things). One rather large acceptable way to spend is that of Handicapped Accessibility. Because the current bleachers (which are in need of some repair, have been repaired in the past 2 or 3 times), do not offer accessibility to today's standards that is an acceptable way to spend the money. Another acceptable way to spend the money is to adequately repair the seam in the floor, where the current metal transition barely does the job.

I also have it from good sources that these upgrades will not require any new taxes, although it's understood every cent they spend belongs to we taxpayers.

I'd say the old equipment served well. I hope the new stuff does too. At least we're able to spend it on something we need.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Village DwellerJanuary 18, 2010 at 3:53 PM
The previous comment regarding surveillance cameras in school bathrooms has been removed.

The statement has no validity, the Times has learned.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."