by Amber Slaughter
It is August 20 the first day of school, you walk into your first class and immediately look at the clock so you can see how much longer you have to be at school. Instead of seeing the old clocks you are surprised to see new digital clocks. Throughout the day you see these new clocks in all of your classes.
The clocks were installed all over the district during the summer, throughout the district, they installed about 136 new clocks. The new clocks cost $800 each, the overall cost was about $108,800. The reason for the clocks being very expensive is because they have a special feature that allows them to scroll text through the clocks.
Why do clocks need this feature? Its purpose besides telling time is to protect the students and staff at the school. For example, if an intruder is on campus, instead of telling people the plan on the speakers, the office can send a message which keeps the intruder out of the loop and people safe. The District Office can also send messages through the clocks so that if the attendance office is not able to, people at the District are able to do it.
People have been curious if the clocks record what is being said in the classrooms. The clocks have the ability to do that, but that feature is only activated in the case of an emergency or if the school needs to locate someone They can ask where the student is and then they will be able to hear the answer. It seems that the new clocks were installed not just for updating the campus but to ensure the safety of the campus since school shootings have become regular in our country.
Is it considered a problem when schools have to spend $108,800 on new clocks to protect the people on the campus? It is important that we update our safety on campus, however it is unfortunate that we have to purchase new clocks as a means of protection due to the recent school shootings.
Getting new clocks should not be a big deal, yet when clocks have the responsibility of not just telling time but alerting us when there is an intruder on campus, they are. When people look at the clocks all they should be thinking about is how much longer they have to be at school. The new clocks are more about improving communication and protecting the campus than the ability to tell time.
The Claw 