The Bessemer School Board Tuesday voted unanimously to spend between $17,000 and $18,000 for installation of video surveillance and call buzzers at entrances to at least four elementary schools, a middle school and the Bessemer Center for Technology.
The move comes in response to last week's shooting at Virginia Tech that left 33 people, including the gunman, dead.
The purchases will add security to those schools that had been without it. The systems will include camera that will show who is approaching school grounds, enabling school faculty to screen visitors. Visitors will have to ring a door buzzer for entry.
Superintendent Deborah Horn said the surveillance systems are badly needed. ''The schools are not secure,'' she said. ''Anyone can just walk in.''
