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OTHER MEASURES In response to a question from board member Shirley Brown, White explained that the dis- trict has taken a number of steps over the past several years to make its schools safer. All new and rebuilt schools have been designed with single points of entry, which makes it easier for staffs to manage the admission of people to those campuses, White said. "Even with our older schools, where we're not rebuilding, we provide fencing and gates that really establish a controlled single entry," White continued. Further, the district has more than 4,000 video surveillance cameras, which have been upgraded with new soft- ware that provides better images, she pointed out. Staff members check the cameras each day to ensure they are functioning properly, she added. Each district school also has an enhanced classroom door-locking system, White noted. When she visits classrooms, she continued, she watches principals pull out their keys to unlock the doors. "Not anyone can [just] walk into a classroom." More cameras and fencing are included in the next fiscal year budget, she added, and the training of staff members and principals will be enhanced in cooperation with law enforce- ment agencies. "I think the door-locking device is a very big, important thing," Chairwoman Jane Goodwin said. Even if every school had an SRO, Goodwin noted, statistics have shown that an officer is not always going to be in the location where an incident occurs. % THE SARASOTA News Leader Old school journalism. 21st century delivery. The award-winning Sarasota News Leader Sarasota County's #1 digital news weekly! Read it online today at SarasotaNewsLeader.com/current The most comprehensive, unbiased coverage of local news and government in the Sarasota County area. Read it on your iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Nook, Android, Laptop, Computer or other Smartphones Available for FREE every Friday Sarasota News Leader July 25, 2014 Page 54