MARK WAITE / PVT Dale Norton, representing the Nye County School District, at left, and Assistant Sheriff Rick Marshall, discuss the school surveillance system with county commissioners by video conference. Advertisement

When a group of Pahrump Valley High School seniors crept into the school at night to do a senior prank, officials were able to identify them, despite the fact the hoods and masks they wore.

The students obtained keys to the building and stacked up a bunch of desks in front of the front doors.

"We could tell by the way they walked and the clothing they were wearing," Principal Max Buffi said.

The 32 closed-circuit security cameras posted around the high school have been successful at identifying mischief around the school, Buffi said.

Now the school board is asking for bids to expand the video surveillance program to Rosemary Clarke Middle School, Amargosa Valley Elementary School, Beatty Elementary School and Beatty High School.

Nye County commissioners last week approved the application for a 2009 U.S. Department of Justice COPS Secure Our Schools grant on behalf of the school district. The school district must pay half of the $250,000 cost.

Commissioners approved the application with almost no discussion after Assistant Sheriff Rick Marshall said there would be no cost to the county.

Under the program $16 million is available to law enforcement agencies nationwide to help develop school safety resources and provide improved security on school grounds. It can be used for metal detectors, locks, lighting, security training and any other measure that provides a significant improvement in security.

"They have been very helpful to us, mostly in the aspect that the word got around the school the cameras are for real," Buffi said. "They thought the cameras were all fake. They know they do work. It's a deterrent. They know we have cameras that can see what's taking place, and I really think it's reduced the number of fights we had at the school."

Buffi estimated the surveillance system reduced the number of fights on the high school campus from over 100 two years ago, to over 50 last year, to only about 25 this school year.

School officials can tell who initiated the fights and who tried to walk away, he said.

There have been other incidents caught on camera.

"We had one case of a kid that stole a laptop computer out of a locker. We were able to recover that laptop computer because we had it on camera," Buffi said.

The cameras survey the hallways, gym, cafeteria and the area outside the building. But Buffi said the 32 cameras still don't seem sufficient to cover the 40-acre campus.

"We're not trying to be big brother and watch everything that goes on, but hopefully, when we need to go back and check an instance, hopefully we've got it on camera," Buffi said.

"It's sad that we have to do something like this in our schools nowadays, but that's just the sign of the times. We try not to be the enemy and we try not to be the bad guy, but we're tasked with controlling 1,470 kids, and it's a tough challenge."