AHS expands surveillance

Due to a loss in estimated $1.2 million worth of food that was pilfered from school cafeterias in schools across FCPS in the past year, officials from the Food and Nutrition Services have installed survaillance cameras in six schools.

AHS has recently installed 12 cameras with flat-screen monitors. These are mounted on the walls of the lunch lines, enabling students to view themselves while standing in line.  Mount Vernon, Westfield high schools and Lake Braddock, Robinson and South County secondary schools also plan on installing cameras. Although AHS has not had a problem with food theft, the administration volunteered to hve the cameras installed so fewer teachers would be needed to monitor the lines and to support the Food Ofices’ pilot program.

After conducting a six year research on food losses, the director of Food and Nutrition Services, Penny McConnell, concluded that a drastic measure was needed. The cameras are designed to prevent the huge amount of losses the self-supported program, Energy Zone, has increasingly experienced in the past years. Energy Zone is a company that operates independently of FCPS and is funded in part by the federal and state governments and supported by the students and faculty of FCPS schools. It runs on an annual budget of $74 million, and with food and gas prices rising, the $1.2 million loss was becoming a yearly blow that McConnell needed to find a way to recover.

While greater survailance may alarm some students, the food officials have no intention of intimidating the students. McConnell hopes to deter students from stealing in the broader community and sending a message that stealing is wrong no matter what or where one is stealing from.

“We don’t want to police our students. Kids don’t realice that stealing from the school is the same thing as stealing from Seven Eleven,” said McConnell. “If you steal from any other store, they won’t let you off easy. There will be consequences.”

    Nonetheless, some students see cameras over their heads as an act of interfereance into their personal lives.

    “If they’re montioring us while we get food, what will they do next? Put cameras in the bathroom?” said senior Dalia Faris.

    However, cafeteria workers find this measure effective because of the various ways they have observed students stealing. Some of the methods that students have used are kicking sandwhiches to friends in the line, wearing huge apparal to clandestinely take food under their clothes and passing food between each other’s pockets.

    “I’ve seen them [students] two pizzas on top of each other, take two lunches, or take as much french fries as they possibly could,” said cafeteria workers Mina Ofogh.

    The most popular stolen food items include spicy chicken, juice cans and french fries. In the past, some of the ways the food service officals have tried to eliminate food theft is putting up posters that remind students that stealing is morally wrong. Posters such as, “Stealing hurts everyone,” are found in every line. Other methods include having administrators monitor the lines.

    Currently, school cafeterias in FCPS serve food in a market-friendly fastion.

“Our Energy Zone program has a really good reputation. We see ourselevs as a marketing service, with our bright colors, packaged sandwiches, and engaged, friendly service,” said McConnell. Before, food was not packeged, but the cafeteria workers would physcially place the servings onto student’s lunch trays.

    While history teacher John Hawes agrees that installing cameras is a “necessary response to an unfortunate problem” he believes that the current way that food is serves increases oppourtunities for students to solve. “The old syle was much better,” said Hawes.

    Alhtough some parents have expressed concern the $1.2 million loss may not be atrributed to students and could be a result of employee theft. However, McConnell assures that the employees receive free lunch, thus giving them less motive to steal. In addtion, McConnell explained that the way the food officials determine food theft is by keeping records of how much is food is made and then comparing it to how much was purchased.

    It is clear that food theft is nationwide problem as high and low-income areas have equal theft. McConnell surveyed 10,000 high school students during lunch and found that nearly 9 percent said they stolen food before.

    To ensure that the recorded images are protected, AHS will use the digital video recorder, which will ensure that all recordings will be deleated after 30 days. Principal John Poton wll inform students about the new cameras this week through a PA announcement.