On WBIR and WATE reports have surfaced that a hidden camera was placed in a teachers lounge where teachers would sometimes change clothes. WATE reports that it is in a cheerleaders changing room.

The real story here is that someone (do not know if it is faculty or students) was stealing snacks and soft drinks and the school districts security department set up security surveillance. Kind of reminds me of the Knoxville Hyatt Regency story. A guest found a camera in the bathroom of a guest room that had been forgotten, more or less.

The question is how many of these do the Knox County School System have? How often do they use them? Who (Knox County taxpayers, State Taxpayers or Federal taxpayers), the bottom line WE paid for them? Is this the role of the school district? When the owner of the snacks and softdrinks lost the first couple they should have just moved them to a secure closet.

School Board Member Cindy Buttry proposed and she was right, turn over security to the Sheriffs Department and Police Department. We shouldn’t have duplicated security officers. One that answer to the schools and one that answers to the sheriff.

We simply need our kids protected. The elected sheriff can handle the job, he solves murders, armed robberies and traffic accidents, surely his officers can handle a soft drink and snack thief.