Television Security Proposed For Schools In Queensland
'Spy TV plan for schools' By Selina Steele The Sunday Mail, 26/9/1999

Panic buttons and closed circuit television may become standard features in Queensland schools.

The Education Department, reviewing school security after the Colorado massacre in April, is also investigating such radical measures as personal alarms for teachers.

A departmental report, leaked to The Sunday Mail, reveals the tough security measures were first considered two years ago.

Education Minister Dean Wells only recently became aware of the documents and in a memo to Director-General Terry Moran dated August 17, he expressed surprise that nothing had been done to improve school security.

The risk management report was compiled in November 1996, the month after Jandamurra O'Shane was doused in petrol and set alight by a man who walked in to a Cairns schoolyard.

Mr Wells has requested plans for improved security be ready for next year's State Budget.

The report urged a return to compulsory school uniforms "so that young intruders will be readily visible".

Also identified was the need to strengthen the authority of principals and police to deal effectively with intruders.

Mr Wells has suggested that buildings and landscaping be reviewed so

"schools are laid out with maximum lines of visibility (for) passive crime prevention. People just don't commit crimes so readily if they know they are being observed," Mr Wells wrote.

He asked for security projects to be planned so they were "ready to go".