Security cameras now installed at Skyline School

PORTLAND, Ore. - New security cameras have been installed at the school where 7-year-old Kyron Horman disappeared on June 4.

The high-resolution cameras were donated to Skyline School, and they are a first in the district. Some hope the cameras will someday be on every campus and revolutionize security at Portland schools.

“We want to be able to see license plates,” said Portland Schools spokesman Matt Shelby. “We want to be able to see people’s faces.”

Jim Loar, who lost his son, Jason, after a swimming accident, has no experience with security systems but he was so touched by Kyron’s story he took it upon himself to research the ones that ended up at Skyline.

“The resolution is so strong and so tight, it can be used for forensic analysis in crime scene investigations,” said Loar.

The cameras are just some of the security changes at the school. Firefighters and dozens of volunteers moved Kyron’s Wall of Hope over the weekend to keep random visitors away from students returning to school next week.

Kyron’s parents, Desiree Young and Kaine Horman helped walk the four large pieces of the fence loaded with items and messages for Kyron to the nearby Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue station.

“To know that people care about your son that way, it makes you feel really good. It’s a good thing,” Desiree said.

School officials admit if they would have had the cameras back in June, there may not be as many unanswered questions in the Kyron Horman investigation.

“We certainly know one thing, that it couldn’t have hurt,” said Shelby.

An army of cameras could protect the Portland schools that find a way to pay for them. Schools may have to hold fundraisers to get similar ones.

The district wants a uniform system for two reasons: One, the district will be able to maintain them, and two, it will be able to control them from a central location.

The district’s requirements for a system should be out in a couple of weeks.