Ninety-six new security cameras are expected to be installed in Stuyvesant by Sunday May 1, 2010 to prevent future acts of vandalism. Eighty-four cameras will be distributed on the walls throughout the 11 floors of the building, including the basement, and 12 cameras will be placed outside of the building. Numbers have been written on the walls of the building in chalk or marker, indicating the positions of each of the new cameras. Almost every hallway will be under surveillance, as well as several staircases. There are currently 39 cameras located between the basement and seventh floor.

The cameras will be installed to provide a record of possible acts of vandalism.”The locker policy was put into place because of thefts. These cameras are being installed due to vandalism,” Principal Stanley Teitel said.

The installation of these cameras will not affect the school’s budget, because it will be funded by federal grant money. In response to previous acts of vandalism at Stuyvesant, Public School 266, Intermediate School 208, Richard R. Green High School of Teaching, and Public School 89 amongst others, the schools have applied for a federal grant worth 1.459 million dollars to obtain new security cameras.

The grant was accepted because “we live in tough times,” Assistant Principal Technology Edward Wong said. “We have to make sure everyone is safe. There have been incidents in the building.”

Wong assures students that cameras will not have adverse effects. “No one is going to sit there and watch 96 cameras all day,” he said. “It [installing new cameras] is a good thing. It is a just-in-case system.”

However, some have expressed concerns about the new cameras.

“The school can do whatever it wants because [the cameras are] free, but this is highly unnecessary,” junior Aia Sarytcheva said.

Sophomore Sophia Chen agreed. “There is not that much wrongdoing in the halls to lead to cameras watching our every step,” Chen said.

Others were not opposed to the installation of more cameras.

“The cameras are there for a good reason. They stop people from doing bad things. But it’s going to be awkward because people are going to be watching you all the time,” sophomore Gary Chan said.

“I don’t care. It’s not like I’m going to be personally affected by cameras that people barely notice,” senior Jason Shum said.