49 cameras. That’s what it takes to keep Ventura High School a safe and secure campus. But what really goes down behind the dozens of hidden cameras? Have they been less of a help than expected?

Recently, senior Clayton Currie’s golf cart -which he drives to school and parks in the parking lot- was moved by an unknown student to a different parking space. To investigate who did it, his mother, Tracie Currie, met with assistant principal, Charles Cornwell, to view what had happened on the security cameras. However when they looked, the cameras were not clearly showing the student parking lot but instead, a nice, clear view of spider webs.

In a recent interview with Cornwell, he states, “The good news is, recently we had our district come in and clean them, but there are still issues with some other cameras- they are about ten years old.”

So no, if your car gets moved or your phone gets stolen and the cameras are dirty it is not VHS’s fault. Yes the cameras may be useless if they are too dirty to even see out of, but the main concern is that they are outdated.

You may have seen these cameras on campus, but are they covered in spider webs?[huge_it_slider id=”17″]

Recently, the district has reached out to Cornwell with the intentions to look into replacing the cameras, as it is not under VHS’s control.

But nonetheless, these 10 year old cameras can come in handy. Cornwell says, “If it wasn’t for the cameras my life would be really tough.”

They cannot always depict a face, but they can help students who may have lost their phone or other items, as well as help administration with serious issues, like getting to the bottom of fights on campus or investigating theft.

“It doesn’t deal with just discipline, which many students may believe is what the sole purpose of the security cameras are,” Cornwell said.