Claire Gilbert reports in The Columbia Paper that the Chatham school district is considering a major school construction project, spending $5.3 million from district capital reserves and $4.4 million from state aid with no tax increase. The proposed project would repair and upgrade the district's three schools, the public library, and the bus garage. "A separate companion proposition would fund surveillance cameras," Gilbert writes. The surveillance camera proposal would cost $1.2 million, and add a tax increase of $4 per household valued at $100,000. Voters would decide on the proposals on the May budget ballot. Superintendent Salvatore DeAngelo said the proposed cameras would not be in instructional areas, and would be used for evidence of when students, teachers, or administrators had done something wrong. At a public hearing about the proposal, one parent, Steve Gilger, said the surveillance cameras meant Chatham was becoming like George Orwell’s “1984.” The next Chatham school board meeting is at 6 p.m., Feb. 27 in the high school library. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper. Share this: