School cameras would cost more

By Anthony V. Coppola, Staff Writer
   HIGHTSTOWN — East Windsor Regional Superintendent Ron Bolandi says he still wants to install additional security cameras at local schools, despite an estimate that puts the cost at $30,000, significantly higher than he originally estimated.
   Last week, the Walter C. Black Elementary School, on Stockton Street, was the latest local target of anti-Semitic and anti-American graffiti, just days before the start of the school year. At the time, Mr. Bolandi said he would recommend to the school board that the district install cameras at the district’s three buildings that do not have them — Ethel McKnight Elementary School, Grace N. Rogers Elementary School and the Black school. And he estimated that cost at $5,000 to $10,000.
   At Monday’s Board of Education meeting, Mr. Bolandi informed the board that a quote he received set the cost at $10,000 per building.
   ”I was a little shocked,” he told the board. “But I still think it’s a good idea.”
   According to police, graffiti was found spray-painted on the back of the Black school on Sept. 2, including three swastikas of about a foot to 18 inches in circumference.
   ”It’s unfortunate that this continues to happen,” Mr. Bolandi said at Monday’s meeting. “It’s a sign of the times we’re living in.”
   On Tuesday, Mr. Bolandi said Business Administrator Kurt Stumbaugh will conduct a financial analysis to determine if leftover capital funds are available following recently completed paving projects throughout the district.
   ”We think there will be, and if that’s the case we certainly could use that money for security cameras,” Mr. Bolandi said.
   It is Mr. Bolandi’s hope that new cameras will provide similar results to that seen at Hightstown High School, Melvin H. Kreps Middle School and Perry L. Drew School, where little to no vandalism occurs, according to the superintendent.
   Last week’s incident marked the fifth report of hateful graffiti found this year in the area.
   In January, Hightstown, East Windsor and Roosevelt were branded during one night with anti-Semitic graffiti and anti-American graffiti. In February, three 18-year-old college students from the township were charged with bias intimidation and bias-based criminal mischief in relation to the January acts. All three were graduates of Hightstown High School.
   More instances of graffiti were found over two weeks in May, when police reported anti-Semitic and anti-American markings on concrete barriers on Route 133 in East Windsor. In Hightstown, police reported in the same month that a building was vandalized with anti-Jewish and anti-black graffiti, including swastikas.