SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - The Springfield Police and Public Schools Departments have an agreement that has to do with access to cameras inside of schools. The agreement allows the Police Department's Crime Analysis Unit live access to cameras that are already inside the city's schools in the event of an emergency. The goal is to help police see what's happening in real-time. The agreement dates back to 2021. Now, Springfield School Committee members are debating whether or not to extend that agreement. In recent meetings, there has been push back because of privacy concerns. "We have a majority-minority school district and there are real implications to a student of color's mental health with feeling as though they are being surveilled or over-policed," said School Committee member Denise Hurst. But, the Chairman of the School Committee Mayor Domenic Sarno, and Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers both say students are absolutely not being watched by officers. "This false narrative that police are monitoring our schools 24/7 is wrong," said Mayor Sarno. "No police officer could ever surveil your children. We just don't do that. Trust me, we have enough to do other than surveil our children in the schools," said Akers. "That's not going to happen. I would not allow that to happen." The cameras are part of the Police Department's Crime Analysis Unit. Bill Schwarz is the unit's director. He told the 22News I-Team that this unit is manned by civilians, not police, and they use the city's network of hundreds of cameras to help officers get information and stay safe when responding to calls. "We are not a surveillance center, we are a real-time center," said Schwarz. "We certainly are not watching school cameras. We are under very strict guidelines, and they know this, as to when we can use those." The agreement states that the cameras inside of a school can only be accessed during an emergency like an active shooter, a fire, a medical emergency, or a bomb threat. The cameras are in public areas like hallways, cafeterias, and stairwells, not in classrooms or bathrooms. Some of the cameras are located inside Springfield High School of Science and Technology. There was a shooting inside the school in March and officers were able to know exactly what was going on with the help of those cameras. It helped us identify exactly who did what, what the situation was, how it began, and how it ended," said Akers. "It helped us with everything." The Sci-Tech shooting is one of eight times that a school's interior cameras were accessed since this agreement was put in place. The majority of those times, they were being used to investigate an online threat. "We want to make sure that we create environments that are safe and conducive for learning and conducive for academic excellence," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sonia Dinnall. "The cameras are just a small part of that." In September, the School Committee passed a motion 4-3 to extend the camera agreement by 120 days so they can hold meetings to educate the public about the camera program. Committee members Barbara Gresham, Joesiah Gonzalez, LaTonia Monroe Naylor, and Hurst voted in support of that extension. But now, the agreement will lapse if it's not approved again in January. "If there is a life or death situation going on in a school, and we have to get to those children because someone is trying to take their lives, those cameras will absolutely save lives," said Akers. The seven-member School Committee needs a majority vote to either pass or fail this motion. There will be public input sessions before then to educate the public on the agreement. "I think making sure that folks really understand that it's not a surveillance system, which is the main problem that we have, was the feedback thinking that their kids were being surveilled or staff were being surveilled," said Naylor. "That's a real issue." Local News Headlines Brush fire warning continues in Massachusetts Understanding your ballot with 22News: Question 2 Western Massachusetts lawmakers react to Puerto Rico comment at Trump rally How to keep kids trick-or-treating this Halloween safe WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.